Nepal Flood Village Mayor Lost 140
- Nepal's flash flood death toll has reached 626, with 2,426 people still missing according to the country's disaster protection authority; China reports 7 dead and 554 missing in
- A community leader in Bidur district says he lost more than 140 neighbours and is still searching for four members of his own family, while describing unrecovered bodies along the
- Authorities have warned of a second flood risk from the Subrubisi Lake on the Chinese side of the border, prompting mass evacuations to higher ground with families reporting acute
Four days after a catastrophic flash flood struck the Himalayan region, the death toll in Nepal has risen to 626, with 2,426 people still unaccounted for according to the country's disaster protection authority. China has separately reported seven deaths and 554 people missing in Tibet. The scale of the destruction is only now becoming clear as survivors describe walls of water that obliterated entire communities.
'There is no one left to cry'
In the village of Gerkhu in Bidur district, Rishi Pyakurel, a 50-year-old businessman who serves as an informal community leader, has spent days on the telephone to police attempting to locate missing residents by tracing their mobile phones. Among those he is searching for are his own sister, her husband, her son, and her son's wife — all of whom lived in Trishuli Bazar, one of the areas most severely hit by the flood. "I have lost over 140 of my people in the village," Pyakurel said. "There is no one left to cry."
He described bodies still lying along the banks of the Trishuli river, with many yet to be recovered. "Everywhere smells of decomposition," he said. Pyakurel recalled that warnings had been issued before the torrent struck, but many residents delayed their escape while attempting to secure their homes or retrieve valuables. Some, he said, were photographing the rising water. "Some made selfies as the water rose. But then came the flood." He estimated that the water reached 20 to 30 metres above the riverbed in places. These figures represent his personal recollection and have not been independently verified.
New flood threat forces families into the hills
As rescue teams continue to search for survivors, authorities have issued warnings of a further potential disaster. The Subrubisi Lake on the Chinese side of the border is reported to be at risk of overflowing; the lake lies roughly two and a half hours by road from Trishuli. In response, many families have abandoned their homes and retreated to higher ground, sheltering on hilltops, roadsides, and in forests above the valleys. This follows earlier Chinese warnings about barrier lake flood risk along the border, a threat that now appears to be intensifying.
Among those who fled is Dr Rajchardan Rey, 32, a veterinarian who escaped on a moped with his 28-year-old wife and their three-year-old daughter after hearing the latest alert. "We left immediately after the warning. We only have a blanket and a small rucksack. We do not know where we will sleep tonight," he said. Rey said the family had no access to food or water and had received no assistance. "Our daughter must eat, but we have nothing — like everyone else."
Rescue operations hampered by weather
The army is deploying helicopters to evacuate the injured and bring out survivors, but persistent heavy rain is disrupting flight operations. According to local accounts, the recovery of the dead has not yet begun in earnest, as rescue services are prioritising those still alive. Relatives of the missing have been scanning lists of names in the hope of news, while thousands of others remain stranded in the hills, waiting for confirmation that no further flood wave is coming. The broader human toll of the disaster — which has already left hundreds dead across Nepal and Tibet — is examined in earlier coverage of the flash floods that caused mass deaths across the Himalaya and the hundreds of tourists reported missing in its immediate aftermath.
With the Subrubisi Lake risk unresolved and the monsoon continuing, authorities have yet to give any indication of when conditions will allow a full recovery operation to begin.
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