Full story
Floods, ice, and a quake
A flash flood and landslides struck the Rasuwagadhi region and nearby areas near the Chinese border, with Nepali police announcing an increase in the death toll to 469 dead on August 28, 2026, as reported by Anadolu Agency in Ankara.
“the seismic event, which registered magnitude 5.2, was actually caused by an ice collapse”
The same event was tied to geophysical signals: the United States Geological Survey said it had detected an earthquake before the floods, then revised its data to indicate that the seismic event, which registered magnitude 5.2, was actually caused by an ice collapse.
Nepali officials said floodwaters destroyed dozens of bridges and caused substantial damage to roads, prompting the deployment of helicopters to participate in search and rescue operations, while experts at the Integrated Mountain Development International Centre (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu said the collapse of ice led to a glacial outburst flood.
In a separate tally, China’s official television CCTV reported three deaths and 558 people missing on the Tibetan side of the border, contrasting with the latest official toll indicating 359 killed and 910 others missing.
The scientific framing also differed across outlets, with ABC News describing the trigger as a “massive geophysical event” set off by an enormous landslide and glacier fall, and with the USGS estimating that more than 100 million cubic meters of ice, rock and debris were displaced in the event.
Toll swings and missing
As rescue operations continued into a fifth day, 20Minutos put the death toll from the devastating flood on Wednesday in the Bhote Koshi basin at 750, while almost 3,000 people remained missing.
Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction Authority (NDRRMA) added 59 fatalities in its latest update, bringing the total number of victims in Nepal to 734, and 2,498 people were unaccounted for since the disaster in Nepal.
China’s toll rose to 16 deaths on the Tibetan side early Sunday, while authorities continued to search for 546 missing in its territory, and 104 Nepalese were listed among the missing, followed by India (49).
In contrast, the @arabiaweather report said Nepali authorities reported 734 dead and 2,426 missing, while China logged 16 dead and 546 missing, and it described rescue teams intensifying efforts amid “growing hope” after Nepali authorities supplied oxygen to workers trapped in a tunnel at a hydroelectric dam project.
The missing figures also shifted in ABC News reporting, which said that in Nepal 1,924 people remained missing as of Friday, with 579 reported dead in Nepal and five in China, while Xinhua reported Thursday that three people were confirmed killed and 558 others remained missing in Tibet.
Science explains, authorities act
ABC News quoted geophysicist Göran Ekström saying the landslide in the mountain pass took away a large chunk of land with glacial ice on top, and he described the event as so powerful it caused an energy equivalent of a 5.2 earthquake registered on seismographs around the globe.
“the energy equivalent of a 5.2 earthquake that was registered on seismographs around the globe”
Ekström told ABC News that river channels are likely blocked by mud and debris, forming dams that could burst, and he warned that a second landslide occurred about three hours after the first, raising concerns that slopes were left unstable.
On the ground, Nepal’s Department of Hydrology and Meteorology declared a yellow alert for heavy rainfall in the area affected by the flood, with precipitation expected to continue at least until Monday, while Nepal’s NDRRMA urged “Search, rescue and relief teams” to “exercise extreme caution.”
The U.S. response was also described in ABC News reporting, with President Donald Trump saying, “That's a terrible thing. No, we are sending aid, and we've spoken to the leadership, and we let them know anything they want will happen,” as the U.S. State Department said it was not aware of any U.S. deaths.
Meanwhile, the scientific and operational stakes were reflected in the scale of displacement and the ongoing search, as the USGS estimated more than 100 million cubic meters of ice, rock and debris were displaced, while ABC News said at least 4,451 people had been injured and rescued and 8,380 police personnel had been deployed to the region.