On Thursday, rescue teams and military helicopters searched for hundreds of people missing along the Nepal-China border, where a powerful flood of water and mud, several stories high, had swept through communities the day before after a glacier collapse.

Footage of the catastrophe captured individuals fleeing as the surging waters engulfed them, sweeping away structures and bridges in their path.

Authorities reported that over 360 people had lost their lives, with more than 1,400 unaccounted for, among them numerous foreign nationals and pilgrims.

Across the Himalayan region, hundreds more have been rendered homeless and displaced.

The steep slopes and lush valleys below the Himalayan range—home to many of the world's highest peaks and remaining glaciers—are especially prone to flooding and landslides.

Glacial melting has become more frequent due to human-induced climate change.

Images showed what seemed to be the second floors of buildings in Nepal's hard-hit Nuwakot district covered in mud after the torrent rushed by.

Riverbanks and village streets were covered in mud.

Debris hung from tree branches and wires.

Vehicles were buried, and some stunned survivors were caked in mud.

Before-and-after images broadcast by state-run China Central Television showed a multi-story building and more than a dozen vehicles covered in mud.

A two-lane road running along a river in a valley in Tibet's Shigatse prefecture was completely buried.

Aerial footage also revealed that a lake had formed and expanded on the China-Nepal border.

Nirajan Paudyal, a journalist based in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu, was deeply concerned for the safety of his parents and other relatives residing in the village of Soley within the district.

“I suspect there will be no update forthcoming,” Paudyal remarked.

The calamity has left at least 910 individuals unaccounted for in Nepal.

Authorities in Tibet, an autonomous region of China, have reported a minimum of three fatalities and 558 persons missing.

Nepalese officials reported that dozens of bridges had been destroyed and nearly 40 kilometers (25 miles) of roads sustained damage, thereby complicating search and rescue operations.

The Nepalese army has airlifted over 100 individuals to safety via helicopter, according to army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet.

Additionally, military teams have extracted those stranded within facilities associated with the Trishuli hydropower project, he noted.

A substantial number of the injured were conveyed to Kathmandu to receive medical treatment.

Rescuers recovered bodies in the Chitwan district, situated hundreds of kilometers (miles) downstream from the regions that bore the brunt of the devastation.

Bishal Kumar Bhandari, chairman of the Nepal Red Cross Society, stated that the organization has shifted its focus from rescue efforts to extensive relief operations in the flood-affected districts.

He noted that approximately 1,200 individuals have been displaced from at least three villages.

In Tibet, a powerful mudslide that hit Wednesday near the Gyirong Port border crossing engulfed a multi-story port building, leaving mud over 1.5 meters (5 feet) deep on average in the surrounding areas, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

All roads to the crossing were damaged, and further collapses or landslides could occur as rain persisted, it added.

China’s premier, Li Qiang, arrived Thursday in Gyirong to direct rescue efforts, alongside 500 military and paramilitary personnel.

Military helicopters circled overhead, searching for survivors, assessing the disaster and mapping out possible rescue and evacuation routes.

Chinese authorities have also cautioned that the newly formed lake at the junction of the Tsogyal and Purupqiangzangbu rivers is overflowing and could burst.

Tom Fletcher, the United Nations’ humanitarian chief, announced Thursday on X that he had authorized the disbursement of $2 million from the U.N.'s Central Emergency Response Fund to support medical care, shelter, and water provision.

He described the floods as “horrifying.”

"We pledge to support national efforts to deliver emergency aid and support," the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, stated to reporters.

Numerous residents in the disaster zone remained in suspense, uncertain whether their loved ones had survived.

Shova Shrestha, 33, has devoted over a day to seeking news of her husband, Rajan Shrestha.

She recounted that his phone rang when she first called following the floods, but subsequently became unreachable.

Since then, she has observed every helicopter that touched down in Bidur, the administrative center of Nuwakot district, clinging to the hope that he might be among the survivors.

“I keep scanning each helicopter, hoping he will emerge from one of them,” Shova remarked.

According to Nepal's tourism board, 517 foreigners are among those who remain unaccounted for.

According to the board, the cohort comprises 178 individuals from India, over 60 from the United States, and representatives from 30 additional nations, including Ukraine, the U.K., South Africa, and Japan.

A considerable number of those unaccounted for may have been undertaking a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet, a site revered by Hindus, Buddhists, and various other faiths.

According to a post on X from Indian spiritual guru Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, seventy-seven members of a single pilgrimage group were caught in the floods at the border's immigration office.

An visibly emotional Sadhguru stated in a video that the cohort comprised 22 Americans alongside individuals from a range of other nations, adding that no official information had been released regarding their current whereabouts.

The U.S. State Department reported that 90 Americans remain unaccounted for in China and Nepal in the aftermath of the flood.

The department stated that it had no knowledge of any U.S. fatalities and confirmed that three Americans had been rescued.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs announced on Thursday that 288 of its nationals, including several workers employed on a power project, remain unaccounted for.

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lin Jian stated that nearly 100 Chinese citizens were unaccounted for in Nepal.

Based on preliminary data, he noted that 260 of those missing in Tibet were foreign nationals.

The U.S. Geological Survey initially documented a magnitude 4.4 tremor early Wednesday, situated approximately 65 kilometers (40 miles) north of Kathmandu, in close proximity to the border.

The agency subsequently revised its assessment, determining that the seismic event was in fact a magnitude 5.2 glacier collapse, which propelled debris downstream.

Climate experts at the Kathmandu-based International Center for Integrated Mountain Development attributed Wednesday’s flash flood to a glacier-induced avalanche.

In an emailed statement, they indicated that water levels at a specific point along the Trishuli River surged by as much as 9 meters (27 feet) within a mere half-hour period.

The increasingly unstable Himalayan ice system threatens communities, infrastructure, and water supplies across one of the world's most densely populated regions.

The region experienced comparable flash flooding in August 2025, when a glacial lake in Tibet overflowed as a consequence of elevated temperatures.

Nine individuals lost their lives, and vital infrastructure, including a bridge linking Nepal and China, sustained damage.