Reporter's Notebook: The Search Continues For Loved Ones
The devastating flash floods along the Nepal-Tibet border have left behind a trail of destruction with thousands of families searching their loved ones.
Published : August 30, 2026 at 5:38 PM IST
Four days after I returned home after a visit to the Langtang National Park in Nepal, I was standing outside Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, where nearly 60 victims injured in the Nepal flash floods and landslides were receiving treatment.
There I ran into Kalpana and Kopila Shrestha, two sisters desperately searching for ten members of their family swept away by the catastrophic flood that scientists believe was triggered on Wednesday by a large block of ice and rock that broke off near the Langtang Lirung peak near the Nepal-Tibet border in the Himalayas. which is part of the Langtang National Park.
That huge mass of ice and rock crashed into the valley below, triggering floods that swept away towns and anything else on its way along the Nepal-Tibet border and into Nepal.
More than 675 people have been killed, while more than 2,400 people remain missing across Nepal and Tibet in China.
Kalpana and Kopila were putting up photos of their loved ones on the hospital wall, filled with numerous photos of others missing in the floods.
Smiling faces of children and adults stared at me from the wall, contrasting with the rising desperation among their family members as each passing day brought no news.
Nepal has seen many disasters, but this is among the worst.
I helped Kalpana put up pictures of her missing family members.
“I’m already tired of sharing my sisters’ and their families’ photos on social media platforms," she said as her fingers trembled while putting up photographs.
"The police reached Betrawati village only after 24 hours – I don’t think the government is doing enough to trace and locate those missing,” she complained.
Betrawati at the Nuwakot-Rasuwa border is also called Uttar Gaya and lies 60 km north of Kathmandu.
Her sister, Kopila, added: “I don’t think they would be found alive even if they are found. We are not very optimistic. But this is the least we can do to help locate them.”
She said she just wanted to know what had happened.
Outside the hospital, others were also busy putting up posters with photos and details of their missing loved one.
One poster showed photos of two South African Hindus who went missing from Gyirong Port at the border.
Another distraught woman stood before the wall with tears rolling down her face.
“I’m searching for my brother who was a driver,” she said.
“He went missing along with his truck, which he was driving on his way to the Tibet border along a riverside highway leading to Tibet.”
The stories are similar.
People swept away by floods that came suddenly with no warning.
Videos showed entire areas being inundated with fast-moving flood waters, giving people little or no chance to escape as buildings, including houses, were swept away.
Just days ago, I had returned home to Kathmandu from Rasuwa and Nuwakot, the worst affected districts in Nepal.
At the time, I had marvelled at the stunning beauty of the Himalayan peaks and valleys located just north of Kathmandu.
I was travelling solo as I often do when I visit Langtang National Park, which is home to stunning Himalayan peaks like Mt Langtang Lirung and serene and sacred Himalayan lakes such as Lake Gosainkunda and Lake Suryakunda, which are revered by Nepali Hindus and Buddhists alike as abodes of deities like Lord Shiva himself, or Guru Rimpoche.
Monsoon rains had drenched the lush green hills and valley from Nuwakot or high up in Rasuwa, the Bhote Koshi, or Trishuli, river valleys
People were happy and cheerful.
Within four days, it had turned into a scene of utter destruction and devastation, like something out of a movie.
On the day of the flash flood, I called Chhewang Lama in Syabru Bensi town, which was decimated. “Our Peaceful Hotel and the entire town is gone,” he said.
“My wife, son and mom too are missing…. Nothing, nothing, nothing is left.”
Subba Tamang, another friend, said his sister, in-law, and several other relatives and friends were swept away along with their homes.
The 26 August flash flood, triggered by what scientists believe was a glacial collapse high up somewhere on the north face of Mt Langtang measuring some 7000 metres, unleashed a new kind of climate disaster.
Soon after the Mt Langtang north face glacial collapse and subsequent melting of the enormous amount of ice and snow, the Lhende Khola, a small river flowing down into the Bhote Koshi – which is called Trishuli, Narayani, or Gandaki downstream before it flows down into the Ganga - started swelling, leading to the massive tsunami-like flash flood in the Bhote Koshi.
First, it destroyed the huge gate of Gyirong port standing at the Nepal-China border, sweeping everything away in its wake, including foreign pilgrims on the way to Mount Kailash, tourists and anything else that came in its path.
All within a span of 30 minutes.
A similar disaster had hit the region last year too, killing 18.
During the 2015 earthquake, an entire village with nearly 400 people was obliterated when a huge glacier collapsed from the South Face of Mt Langtang Lirung.
This flash flood is like a Himalayan river tsunami and unleashed havoc within a very short span of time.
The fear of such flash floods may be something that Himalayan communities across South Asia might have to live with amid global warming and melting glaciers.
After this flood, the hills will never quite be the same again.
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