The death toll from catastrophic flash floods in Nepal has climbed past 160, with dozens of British nationals among hundreds still missing.
Nepal Police confirmed Thursday morning that 162 bodies had been recovered from the Rasuwa region, and the figure is expected to rise as rescue operations press on. Police spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle said, “This will go up, as we have resumed the search and more bodies are expected to be recovered.”
The number of missing tourists jumped from 403 to 579, according to Nepali police figures released Thursday.
Wednesday, the Nepal Tourist Board identified 33 British nationals among the missing. The toll also includes 47 Americans, 34 Australians, and 24 Canadians.
Tour operator Alpine Eco Trek disclosed that a 13-year-old girl was among the missing British nationals, alongside two Irish citizens. Travel logs obtained by the Press Association showed three British men aged 65, 64, and 52, and seven women aged 44, 47, 51, 60, 63, 63, and 65, were also unaccounted for.
Alpine Eco Trek manager Kumar Adhikari told the Press Association: “I feel so sad. We are just thinking about what to do next.
“We are in pain at the moment, deep pain.”
The United States Geological Survey determined that the disaster was triggered not by an earthquake but by a glacial collapse. A magnitude 5.2 seismic event registered near the Nepal-China border Wednesday at 8:37 a.m. Local time, but further analysis revealed a different cause. The USGS stated: “This event was initially reported as a magnitude 4.4 earthquake.
“Additional analysis of nearby seismic stations, long period seismic waves, and satellite imagery led to the determination that the seismic event was instead a glacial collapse and debris flow, and that no earthquake had occurred.”
The agency concluded that the glacial collapse and resulting debris flow caused “subsequent catastrophic impacts downstream.”
Flash floods sent rivers surging over their banks, spreading thick mud through populated areas and burying houses under debris. The Nepali army has deployed 2,000 military personnel for land and aerial search and rescue operations in the hardest-hit zones. Footage shared online showed walls of mud and water demolishing buildings, while other images captured people fleeing as the floodwaters swept in.
Survivor Kalpana Malla, from Nepal’s Nuwakot district, said: “My family members were swept away by the flood in front of my eyes.”
She said her father, mother, sister and her sister’s children were all carried off by the floods.
“They could not escape the flood, there was no chance at all,” she added.
“This flood took everything, but my son and I climbed the rooftop of a house and survived, but couldn’t explain how.”
The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it was “deeply saddened by the loss and devastation.” It advised British nationals in Nepal to follow local authority guidance and exercise caution while traveling.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Wednesday that the Government will do “everything we can” to support British nationals affected by the floods.
In the viral moment that preceded the rising casualty figures, shocking footage circulated showing the sheer force of the mud and water destroying structures in its path, with one official describing the terrifying wall of debris as a “tsunami from the sky.” The glacial collapse near the Tibet border unleashed a debris flow that transformed downstream valleys into disaster zones, leaving rescue teams to navigate treacherous conditions of thick mud and unstable terrain as they search for survivors and recover bodies.
The Nepali army’s expanded deployment of 2,000 personnel represents a major escalation of the response as authorities brace for the confirmed death toll to climb further in the coming days.
The Foreign Office continues to urge British nationals in Nepal to monitor local guidance as search operations intensify across the flood-ravaged Rasuwa region.