How catastrophic flash flood unfolded at remote Nepal-China border point

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**Catastrophic Flash Flood Unleashes Devastation at Remote Nepal-China Border**

A mere few seconds of video footage capture the terrifying onset. From behind structures in Gyirong, on the Chinese side of the Nepal-Tibet frontier, a dark mass emerges. Initially resembling a black cloud, it rapidly coalesces into a torrent of water, mud, boulders, ice, and rock, surging down the valley. The CCTV timestamp marks the moment: 10:59:53 local time.

The events that unfolded in the subsequent minutes remain challenging to piece together. However, fragmented video clips and satellite imagery, both pre- and post-disaster, are beginning to reveal the immense scale of the destruction. A significant portion of the border complex appears to have been obliterated, with buildings that once densely populated the valley floor now simply gone.

Gyirong was among the locations ravaged by the floods that swept through the region on August 26.

Just across the border, at Rasuwagadhi in Nepal's Rasuwa district, the damage was equally extensive. The Friendship Bridge, a vital link between Nepal and China, was washed away, along with Nepal's immigration and customs facilities. Timure, the small trading settlement clustered around the crossing, suffered widespread devastation.

"This is a historic travel route between Kathmandu and Tibet. The area is geologically vulnerable, characterised by deep gorges and steep rivers that flow at high velocity, carry heavy sediment and can bring down huge boulders," explains Ajay Dixit, a hydrologist based in Kathmandu.

This route remains a crucial gateway connecting Nepal and China. It's a place where pilgrims en route to Mount Kailash intersect with traders, truck drivers, customs officials, tourists, and local residents.

On the morning of the flood, over 100 Indian nationals may have been at or near the crossing. India's foreign ministry reports that at least 275 Indians are still missing in Nepal.

Nepal's Department of Immigration has been attempting to reconstruct the movements of individuals who passed through Rasuwagadhi in the final hours before the catastrophe.

Electronic records indicate that 89 Nepali and foreign nationals had completed immigration procedures to depart Nepal for Tibet, while four individuals had registered their entry into Nepal.

The immigration system's last recorded transaction occurred at 8:35:03 am local time (10:52 am Tibet time), less than 10 minutes before the deluge appeared on the Gyirong CCTV footage.

Four immigration employees, including the head of the Rasuwagadhi office, vanished in the floods. His body was later recovered far downstream. The female official who processed the final transactions is still missing.

Among the foreign nationals recorded leaving Nepal that morning were 32 Indians, 12 Chinese nationals, and nine Americans, alongside citizens from Britain, Canada, Australia, and Italy.

Tika Ram Pokharel, a senior immigration assistant at Rasuwagadhi, is the only known survivor from his office. He had traveled to Kathmandu to take an exam that day.

However, Pokharel states that the electronic records only capture a partial picture of the activity at the border that morning.

The immigration office was situated at Ghatte Khola Bazar, approximately 1.5 km north of Timure. From there, it was another 2 km to the Friendship Bridge, which marked the border with Tibet. Along this stretch were shops, hotels, and parking areas where travelers and vehicles gathered before crossing.

The Nepalese immigration office opened at 08:00, according to Pokharel. After clearing immigration, travelers could proceed towards the border or wait in the vicinity before crossing.

When Pokharel called a colleague at 08:20 that morning, he was informed that the crossing was unusually busy. He estimates that around 300 to 400 people were waiting to depart Nepal for Tibet, while others arriving from the Chinese side were also in the area.

"Those who completed the immigration formalities that morning, I don't think were able to complete their immigration process on the Chinese side," Pokharel told the BBC.

Pokharel explains that it typically took 15 to 20 minutes to walk from the Nepalese immigration office to the bridge after travelers had cleared immigration.

Travelers arriving late the previous afternoon sometimes had to wait until the border reopened the following morning, while those traveling in groups or by bus would often wait for everyone to clear immigration before moving on together.

This makes it challenging to ascertain the exact whereabouts of those 89 individuals when the flood struck.

At 8:37 am – less than two minutes after the immigration system's final transaction – seismic instruments detected movement in the mountains above the border, according to a timeline compiled by Nepal's Centre of Hydrology and Water Resources Research. Researchers later attributed this signal to the collapse of a portion of a glacier, which triggered the flood.

China reported that the mudslide reached the border crossing from its origin in approximately seven minutes.

Tika Ram Pokharel, senior immigration assistant at the Rasuwagadhi Immigration Office, was the sole surviving staff member.

Individuals at the crossing could have been making their way towards the bridge, waiting in Ghatte Khola, or preparing to cross towards the Chinese facility. The precise location of each person remains unclear.

And Ghatte Khola itself was far more than just a waiting area. Pokharel states that 50 to 60 houses stood there, alongside hotels, local businesses, and four hydropower offices.

It also served as the final stop for buses from Kathmandu and a base for drivers, helpers, tourist guides, and cargo workers awaiting customs clearance. Travelers heading into Tibet often queued there from the previous day.

"My 40-50 close friends are missing," Pokharel lamented.

Pokharel believes the death toll there could be significantly higher than official figures suggest, estimating that "2,000 to 2,500 people" may have been caught in the flood. This figure is his personal estimate and has not been independently verified.

More than 100 Indians may have been at the crossing when the flood hit. At least 275 remain missing in Nepal, according to India's foreign ministry.

The immigration office itself was situated about 100 meters above the river, Pokharel recalls. However, during the flood, the water appeared to surge even higher. He initially harbored hope that his missing colleagues might have escaped to grazing land several kilometers away.

For some of the Indian pilgrims at the border, the morning had begun almost casually. They were making video calls and creating reels for relatives back home, showcasing the mountains as they awaited the opening of the Chinese immigration office.

Sudipto Bhattacharya was receiving messages from his wife, Subhrasree Chakraborty, who was traveling with a group of over 60 people. At 07:57 Nepal time, she sent him a photograph of the departure stamp in her passport: Nepalese immigration was complete.

Six minutes later, at 08:03, she sent another message: "We are waiting to enter China." Then, the messages ceased.

Among those at the Chinese immigration facility was a group of 77 pilgrims associated with the Isha Foundation, returning from Mount Kailash. They, along with three staff members, were unaccounted for after the flood swept through the area.

When a 21-member Chinese rescue team reached Gyirong on August 28, one rescuer told Reuters: "As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but ruins."

The crossing had only recently recovered from another major flood. In July 2025, flooding had shut Rasuwagadhi for nearly six months. It reopened on January 1 after China constructed a temporary bridge.

Traffic had since resumed. Chinese border authorities report that over 100,000 people had passed through Gyirong by June, while Nepali immigration records show 53,742 arrivals and departures at Rasuwagadhi in the year leading up to mid-July. These two figures are based on different reporting periods and counting systems, making a direct comparison challenging.

Indians constituted the largest group recorded at the Nepali immigration point, followed by Nepalis and Chinese.

Gyirong had also become one of the primary arteries connecting Nepal and China.

Posh Kumar Pandey, chairman emeritus of the Kathmandu-based South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment, states that Rasuwagadhi is one of Nepal's two main trading points with China, alongside Tatopani, and accounts for approximately a third of Nepal's $2.95 billion trade with its northern neighbor.

Around 60 to 70 trucks traversed the gorge daily, transporting electronics, machinery, vehicles, fruit, clothing, and other goods towards Kathmandu. Pandey notes that the route also handled about 80% of Nepal's electric-vehicle imports from China.

Its closure has left Nepal increasingly reliant on Tatopani – which Chinese authorities have also temporarily closed due to landslide risks on the Nepali side, as reported by the Kathmandu Post.

The crossing also lies along the proposed route of the railway connecting the region to Kathmandu, part of plans by Nepal and China to develop a trans-Himalayan rail network.

"Nepal should develop an alternative China trade route and reconsider its wider development strategy, including its heavy concentration of hydropower projects along the same river system," Pandey advises.

"We have put all eggs here. We need to develop an alternative border port."

Across the border, Pokharel was left contemplating conversations he had with his now-missing colleagues.

The previous year's flood had made staff at the Rasuwagadhi immigration office acutely aware of the danger. At night, he says, they sometimes "felt vibrations" and went outside to check the river. They had even discussed among themselves about escaping uphill if another flood struck.

"But my friends could not get that chance," he said.