Rasuwa
Timure, Syabrubesi, Dhunche, Rasuwagadhi. Epicentre of destruction. Helicopter access only in many wards.
Bhotekoshi–Trishuli emergency · 26 August 2026
The valley was swept in minutes. We are still looking for the living.
A glacier collapsed north of Langtang Lirung and sent ice, mud and rock down the Lhende Khola into the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli. Entire settlements — Timure, Syabrubesi, the Rasuwagadhi crossing — were hit with almost no warning.
AI image Field illustration of helicopter relief into Rasuwa
392+
Confirmed deaths in Nepal and Tibet
Still rising
1,468+
People unaccounted for, including 668 foreign visitors
Search continues
1,200
Displaced from at least three villages
Shelter needed now
41
Bridges destroyed along 42 km of road
Valleys cut off
What happened
A wall of water, mud and ice, 72 kilometres long.
On the morning of 26 August, a Himalayan glacier collapse produced a seismic signal measured at magnitude 5.2. Seven minutes later, cameras at Gyirong Port recorded the surge arriving. There had been no rainfall. Families, trekkers, pilgrims and hydropower workers were going about an ordinary Wednesday.
From Langtang to Chitwan in a single morning
The collapse sent debris down the Lhende Khola into the Bhotekoshi and then the Trishuli. Water at Galchhi rose as much as nine metres in thirty minutes. Flood marks reached eighty metres above the river in places.
Timure, near the border, was among the first settlements taken. Downstream, Dhunche, Mailung, Syabrubesi, Betrawati, Trishuli Bazaar and Devighat were inundated. Bodies have been recovered as far south as Gorkha, Tanahun, Chitwan and Nawalparasi.
The Rasuwagadhi customs yard was destroyed. More than 300 vehicles waiting at the crossing were swept away. Six major hydropower and transmission sites went offline, taking about 431 megawatts off Nepal’s grid.
- 08:37 NPTGlacier collapse registered as a magnitude 5.2 seismic event north of Langtang Lirung.
- ~08:44Floodwaters reach the Gyirong Port / Rasuwagadhi crossing. Timure is hit next.
- Through the dayThe surge travels tens of kilometres down the Trishuli corridor. Army helicopters begin winch rescues.
- 27–28 AugustSearch shifts toward large-scale relief. A new barrier lake is watched for a second burst.
The path of the flood, from space
Landsat 9 captured the scar on the day of the disaster: a brown debris track cutting the forested valleys of Rasuwa, with Langtang Lirung in the frame. This is the same corridor families used to reach the border, the hydropower camps, and the Langtang trekking trail.
Sahayog Nepal is using these public satellite maps, along with army and local ward reports, to decide where trucks can still pass and where only helicopters can land.
Figures on this page are compiled from Nepal Police, NDRRMA, USGS, ICIMOD, Reuters, AP and The Kathmandu Post as of 28 August 2026. They remain provisional.
Places we serve
These were living towns the morning the river rose.
Photographs below of Timure and the Trishuli were made in ordinary years. They are here so donors can see the communities — not only the wreckage. Many of these buildings no longer stand.
Nuwakot
Mailung, Betrawati, Trishuli, Devighat. Mud several storeys high. Bailey bridges going in.
Dhading
Galchhi saw a nine-metre rise in half an hour. Road to Kathmandu still fragile.
Gorkha
Bodies recovered far downstream. Family tracing underway with police and the Red Cross.
Chitwan
Lower Trishuli settlements receiving survivors and remains. Need for dignified mortuary support.
How Sahayog works
Four desks. One corridor. No wasted hours.
We formed on the afternoon of 26 August from Nepali medics, former army logisticians, Langtang guides, and Kathmandu warehouse volunteers. We do not replace the Nepal Army, NDRRMA or the Red Cross. We fill gaps they ask us to fill.
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Search & reach
Porter teams and local guides walking washed-out tracks between helicopter drops, marking GPS for families still unaccounted for.
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Shelter & warmth
Tarpaulins, blankets, solar lanterns and dignity kits for the 1,200 people already displaced — and those still coming down the valley.
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Field clinics
Trauma dressing, tetanus, oral rehydration, and referral to Kathmandu for crush injuries. Treatment is free, as the government has ordered.
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Hot meals
Dal bhat kitchens in Bidur and Betrawati so people are not living on dry noodles while they wait for news of relatives.
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Kathmandu hub
Sorting, packing and night convoys from our Balaju warehouse. Every box is tagged to a ward, not dumped at the roadside.
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Children’s space
Twenty schools were damaged. We are standing up tent classrooms so children are not sitting in the mud while adults queue for aid.
Witness
Real ground. Real sky. Illustrated response.
Every photograph is labelled. Real images are licensed public records of this disaster and the valley before it. AI images show the kind of work our teams are doing; they are not photographs of named survivors.
Thank you.
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If you are looking for someone
Do not search the river yourself.
The barrier lake above the border is still a second-flood risk. If a relative was on the Rasuwagadhi road, a Langtang trek, a Kailash pilgrimage, or a hydropower site on 26 August:
Call Nepal Police disaster cell, the Armed Police Force missing desk, or your embassy in Kathmandu. Hospitals receiving the injured include facilities in Bidur and several hospitals in Kathmandu. Sahayog staff can accompany families at the Bidur information tent — we do not keep a public list of names, to protect privacy and avoid false hope.
