The catastrophic floods in Nepal and Tibet that have killed at least 273 people were triggered by a massive glacier collapse and debris flow that registered as a magnitude 5.2 landslide, according to the rescued more than 100 people from flood-hit areas by helicopter Thursday morning, according to army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet.
Bishal Kumar Bhandari, chairman of the Nepal Red Cross Society, told the AP that they have shifted focus to large-scale relief operations. He said that around 1,200 people were displaced from at least three villages.
Videos of the disaster showed raging floodwaters sweeping away cars, engulfing people trying to flee and destroying homes and bridges.
Debris was left tangled in tree branches and power lines, vehicles were buried and mud-covered survivors emerged as flooding cut off travel in some areas.
The village of Soley in Nuwakot, which has about 25 homes, was almost entirely destroyed, according to Kathmandu-based journalist Nirajan Paudyal, whose parents and other relatives live there. Desperate for news, he traveled to the area Thursday to check on his family.
"There is no update till now. I fear there won’t be any update," Paudyal told the AP.
The disaster in Nepal and Tibet underscores a broader threat, as increasingly unstable Himalayan ice poses risks to communities, infrastructure and water supplies across one of the world’s most densely populated regions.
The region experienced similar flash flooding in August 2025, when high temperatures caused a glacial lake in Tibet to overflow. The resulting floods killed nine people and damaged critical infrastructure, including a bridge linking Nepal and China.