Archive · 3 Sep 2026
Nepal Floods Leave Families Mourning Without Bodies
A powerful flood struck Nepal after an ice and rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border.
Many towns and villages were badly damaged.
More than 1,200 people have died, and thousands are still missing.
Some families cannot find the bodies of their loved ones.
Because they have waited many days, they are holding symbolic funerals instead.
Rescue teams are still searching for missing people.
Some Nepalese travelers are also stuck in Tibet and are waiting to return home.
Scientists and climate officials warn that unstable, shrinking glaciers could cause more dangerous floods in the future.
Nepal’s death toll has risen to 1,252, while 4,216 people remain missing, according to NDRRMA.
Families in hard-hit areas are performing symbolic funeral rites for relatives who remain untraced.
The floods began after an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26, devastating northern and central Nepal.
About 1,500 Nepalese nationals remain stranded at Tibet’s Kerung border point, while around 100 remain missing in Tibet.
A Chinese climate official warned that shrinking Tibetan Plateau glaciers could increase the frequency and scale of future disasters.
- Who
- Flood victims, their families, rescue teams led by the Nepal Army, stranded Nepalese nationals, and authorities in Nepal and Tibet.
- What
- An ice-rock avalanche triggered devastating flash floods that killed 1,252 people and left 4,216 missing in Nepal, while causing additional deaths and disappearances in Tibet.
- When
- The triggering avalanche occurred on August 26, 2026; rescue and recovery efforts continued into their ninth day, with families beginning symbolic rites after eight days without news.
- Where
- Northern and central Nepal, particularly Rasuwa and Nuwakot, as well as Gyirong county and the Kerung border point in Tibet.
- Why
- The floods were triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border, while officials warn that shrinking and increasingly unstable glaciers may raise future disaster risks.
- Nepal death toll
- 1,252 people
- People missing in Nepal
- 4,216
- Nepalese stranded at Kerung
- Around 1,500
- Nepalese missing in Tibet
- Around 100
- Tibet death toll
- 21 people
- Tibet missing
- 541 people
- Glacier change
- Glacier area on the Tibetan Plateau has shrunk by around 24% over 60 years, with about 7,000 small glaciers disappearing