MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Twelve Britons are among travellers unaccounted for after the flood on Nepal's border

The flood first struck Rasuwa district, home to around 50,000 people, and particularly the settlements of Timure and Syabrubesi, where rescue helicopters were unable to land

Twelve British citizens appear on a provisional list of travellers Nepali authorities have been unable to contact following the flash flood and landslides that struck the border corridor between Nepal and Tibet on Wednesday. The country's tourism board included hundreds of people on that register, among them 105 Indian nationals, three Americans, one Australian and one Dutch citizen, as well as Nepalis.

Authorities stress the list is still being verified and that it cannot be asserted that everyone on it was swept away. Communications and power supply remain cut in the area, hampering contact. The provisional nature of the register was underlined by the Spanish case: Nepali authorities placed two Spaniards among those unaccounted for, while the foreign ministry in Madrid said there were “no records of Spaniards affected or unreachable.”

A horrific scene of severe flooding at the Rasuwagadhi border point on the Nepal-Tibet border.
The strong currents wreaked havoc across the area, leaving 400 pilgrims and 105 Indian tourists also missing in the Nepal floods.#NepalFloods #Nepal #Rasuwa #FlashFlood #Floods pic.twitter.com/dwAX12Gj7l

— Ravi Pandey (@ravipandey2643) August 26, 2026

Figures differ by source. The register released by the tourism board totals 484 people — 391 foreigners and 93 Nepalis — in one version, and 384 in the version carried by Reuters. Death tolls also diverge substantially across reports, with no consolidated official figure. Dozens of police and military personnel posted at the border, customs employees and workers at a hydroelectric plant also remain out of contact.

The flood first struck Rasuwa district, home to around 50,000 people, and particularly the settlements of Timure and Syabrubesi, where rescue helicopters were unable to land. It then advanced southward along the Trishuli river to Nuwakot district. On the Chinese side, state television reported deaths and missing people in Gyirong county, with 601 rescue workers deployed.

The origin of the event is disputed. China's Xinhua news agency says the flow of water and mud originated on Nepali territory; Nepal's Flood Forecasting Division says it came from Tibet along the Bhote Koshi river. The Nepali government points to a magnitude 4.4 earthquake recorded at 8:37 local time, which it says may have caused a landslide capable of blocking the riverbed, although its own disaster management authority describes that explanation as preliminary and is also investigating a possible glacial lake outburst. China has cited an avalanche as a hypothesis.

Nepal's energy ministry put the affected generating capacity at 430 megawatts, more than 12% of the national hydroelectric total. In July 2025 another flood on the same river killed at least eleven people and destroyed the bridge linking the two countries.