Nepal flash floods kill 350, leave 900 missing as families search

Rescuers searched flood-hit districts of central Nepal as families hunted for missing relatives. The disaster has destroyed settlements and vital infrastructure, deepening fear over the final toll.Stock photo used for illustrationNepal's flash floods left more than 350 people dead and over 900 missing by Thursday, as rescuers recovered more bodies from affected districts and families continued to search for loved ones. The massive flood tore through central Nepal on Wednesday, devastating towns and villages, washing away major bridges and damaging nearly a dozen hydropower projects as the waters moved downstream across several districts.Among those struggling to cope with the disaster is Giri Lal, 38, who lost his wife, two sons and two daughters when the flood swept through Timure in Rasuwa district. Lal, who drove a vehicle for the local Waste Management office, is being treated at a state-run hospital in Kathmandu, about 160 km from Timure, with only memories of his family left behind.At Bharatpur Hospital, Lipa Sapkota was looking for her brother Sabi, who has been missing since Wednesday morning while returning to Nepal from Tibet. Standing outside the emergency section with his photograph, she said, "We have been showing their pictures to people and asking if anyone has seen them." She also told Setopati.com, "There were some dead bodies, but they were not easy to identify because of their condition." In Trishuli in Nuwakot district, families gathered at Sainik Maidan on Thursday and shared details of missing relatives with rescue teams and officials. "My father is there. He worked at a hydropower project in the affected area. He is missing. He was on duty that morning, and we have not been able to contact him since," a local resident told PTI Videos.Survivors described the scale of the destruction in stark terms. A person rescued from Rasuwa said, "Nothing is left there. I have lost everything," adding that both his father and mother were missing. An elderly woman from an affected family in Trishuli said, "I have never witnessed such a tragedy before. We were terrified and fled to higher ground after leaving our homes. We had never seen a flash flood of this magnitude before." Another resident said, "The area that was swept away by the flash floods was full of homes. We still have no information about the death toll or loss of life. There were government offices, markets, residences and farms. It is all gone, all of it." One eyewitness said he first heard about the disaster while having breakfast. "I was at home this morning. While I was eating breakfast at around 8:40 am, news came that a flood had hit Timure. I heard people saying, 'Timure is completely gone, nothing is left'," he told the Nepal News web portal. He added, "It felt like an earthquake was happening. It was impossible to figure out what was taking place. Right before our eyes, the market and the settlement were devastated." The floods swept through Rasuwa and other districts before surging downstream along the Trishuli and Narayani river systems, causing heavy damage to settlements, roads, bridges and hydropower infrastructure.Government officials were also in Trishuli as the search continued. "Fifteen employees from our Customs Department are missing. There is nothing we can do from Kathmandu, so we have come here with our colleagues to file missing persons' reports," Shivraj Bohra, a branch officer with the Department of Customs, told PTI Videos. Police officer AK Chhetri said, "For people whose location cannot be traced, we collect the phone numbers, location details and other information provided to us and use it to search for them. Helicopters are also being used in the search." He said around 200 missing cases had been resolved by noon, including people found alive and those found dead. The Nepal Army and other security agencies continued search-and-rescue operations in Rasuwa, Dhading, Nuwakot and Chitwan. India also has citizens among those uncontactable, with the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi saying 290 of them were Indians. As the search goes on, families across the affected districts remain torn between hope and fear after one of Nepal's worst flood disasters.With PTI Inputs- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Aug 27, 2026 22:06 IST