Over 100 foreign trekkers stranded as flash floods hit Nepal’s Manaslu region

More than 100 foreign trekkers were stranded in Nepal’s mountainous Gorkha district after flash floods swept away bridges and damaged trekking routes over the weekend, local news outlet Online Khabar reported Monday, citing local authorities. Five villagers, including two women, remain missing after a landslide between Lokpa and Chumling blocked the Budhi Gandaki River, triggering floods downstream. Md Shahadat Hossain, a Bangladeshi trekker stranded in Jagat village, told Anadolu that nine Bangladeshis were awaiting possible helicopter evacuation. “We have been stranded in Jagat since yesterday. A flash flood came down from above the village and flowed through its lower part,” he said. “We are safe, but there has been no electricity since yesterday, communication with the outside world has been disrupted, and food supplies are gradually running short,” Shahadat added. He said more than 200 trekkers were sheltering safely in the village, including Nepali trekkers. According to Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, the floods destroyed several bridges, damaged houses, two telephone towers and 50 electricity poles. The authority said 437 security personnel had been mobilized, while four army helicopters were conducting rescue operations. At least 47 people had been evacuated by helicopter, it added. The Manaslu Circuit, near Nepal’s border with China, is a popular Himalayan trekking route, with October among its busiest months.