Dozens Of Americans Among Missing After Deadly Flash Flood In Nepal

More than 50 Americans are among the missing after deadly flash floods swept through several areas along the border between Nepal and China.

The flood was reportedly triggered when a wall of rock and mud collapsed into a river near the border between Nepal and China-controlled Tibet. Police in Nepal have already reported at least 157 dead on the Himalayan side — according to a report from the Associated Press — and over 300 are still missing, including 54 American tourists.

Nepal’s foreign minister Shisir Khanal said on Wednesday that the landslide and subsequent flooding had been triggered by an earthquake — one the United States Geological Survey had identified in the region around the time the flooding began — but the USGS later confirmed that the rock wall collapsing had actually been what instruments had recorded as a 5.2 magnitude earthquake.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for an extensive search to find the 265 people that state media has confirmed are still missing.

So far, more than 391 foreign nationals have been reported missing since the flooding began — the majority of them tourists. According to Nepal’s tourism board, 54 hail from the United States; 142 are from India on pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet; 34 are from Australia; 33 traveled from the United Kingdom; and 24 are Canadian.

The U.S. Embassy has instructed all remaining American tourists in the region to seek out higher ground and listen for alerts and instructions from local officials: “We extend our sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives, and our thoughts are with all those affected by this disaster.”

Flash floods in Trishuli Bazar, in Nepal’s Nuwakot district, destroyed dozens of homes and left more either partially or fully submerged beneath the mud and debris.

बाढीकाे बितण्डा पछि त्रिशुली बजारकाे अवस्था !!! pic.twitter.com/AblVV11e4Y

— Prakash Timalsina (@prakashujyalo) August 26, 2026

Videos circulated across social media showing the devastation in a number of small villages.

डरलाग्दो !
सीसीटीभीमा देखिएको चीनतर्फको टिमुरेमा बाढी आउँदाको अवस्था pic.twitter.com/qu6nuyGvqt

— Prakash Timalsina (@prakashujyalo) August 26, 2026

बेत्रावती, रसुवाकाे बस्तीमा यसरी पसेकाे थियाे बाढी, सयाैं घर ध्वस्त भएकाे छ भने दर्जनाैं बेपत्ता भएका छन् । pic.twitter.com/r4ZvlmcnQs

— Prakash Timalsina (@prakashujyalo) August 26, 2026