Nepal-China border flood destroys crossing

A catastrophic flash flood devastated a remote border crossing between Nepal and China on 26 August. The disaster swept away the Friendship Bridge and immigration facilities, leaving hundreds of people missing.

According to CCTV footage, a torrent of water, mud, boulders, ice, and rock surged down the valley at Gyirong on the Chinese side at 10:59:53 local time. The flood obliterated much of the border complex. Just across the frontier, at Rasuwagadhi in Nepal's Rasuwa district, the destruction was also extensive. Nepal's immigration and customs facilities were destroyed, and the small trading settlement of Timure was devastated. 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.

The final moments at the border

Nepal's Department of Immigration has been trying to reconstruct who was at the crossing. Electronic records show 89 Nepali and foreign nationals had cleared immigration to leave Nepal for Tibet that morning, while four people had registered their entry. The system recorded its final transaction at 8:35:03am local time, less than 10 minutes before the flood appeared on CCTV.

Tika Ram Pokharel, a senior immigration assistant, told the BBC the electronic records capture only part of the scene. He said the crossing was unusually busy, with an estimated 300 to 400 people waiting to leave Nepal for Tibet when he called a colleague at 08:20. Others arriving from China were also in the area. Pokharel believes the toll could be far higher than official figures suggest, estimating that "2,000 to 2,500 people" may have been caught. This figure is his estimate and has not been independently verified.

The trigger and the timeline

Seismic instruments detected movement in the mountains at 8:37am, less than two minutes after the final immigration transaction. Researchers from Nepal's Centre of Hydrology and Water Research later attributed this signal to the collapse of part of a glacier that triggered the flood. China said the resulting mudslide reached the border crossing from its origin in around seven minutes.

People at the crossing could have been walking towards the bridge, waiting in the Ghatte Khola area, or preparing to cross. Their exact locations remain unclear. Ghatte Khola itself was a hub with 50 to 60 houses, hotels, local businesses, and four hydropower offices, according to Pokharel. It was also the final stop for buses from Kathmandu.

The human cost and missing pilgrims

At least 275 Indians remain missing in Nepal, according to India's foreign ministry. On the morning of the flood, more than 100 Indians may have been in or around the crossing. Among them were pilgrims. Sudipto Bhattacharya was receiving messages from his wife, Subhrasree Chakraborty, who was travelling with a group of more than 60 people. At 07:57 Nepal time, she sent a photograph of her passport's departure stamp. At 08:03, she sent another message: "We are waiting to enter China." Then the messages stopped.

A group of 77 pilgrims associated with the Isha Foundation, returning from Mount Kailash, were also at the Chinese immigration facility. They, along with three staff members, were unaccounted for after the flood. Four Nepali immigration employees, including the head of the Rasuwagadhi office, went missing. His body was later recovered far downstream. The female official who recorded the final transactions is still missing.

A vital economic artery severed

The crossing is a historic travel route and an important economic gateway. Posh Kumar Pandey, chairman emeritus of the South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment, says Rasuwagadhi accounts for about a third of Nepal's $2.95bn trade with China. Around 60 to 70 trucks passed through the gorge each day, carrying electronics, machinery, vehicles, fruit, and clothing. Pandey says the route also handled about 80% of Nepal's electric-vehicle imports from China. You can see more on Nepal's trade stats.

The crossing had only recently recovered from another major flood in July 2025, which shut it for nearly six months. It reopened on 1 January after China built a temporary bridge. Traffic had since returned. Chinese authorities say more than 100,000 people had passed through Gyirong by June, while Nepali records show 53,742 arrivals and departures at Rasuwagadhi in the year to mid-July. For more on regional events, see our fixtures page.

Its closure has left Nepal increasingly dependent on the Tatopani crossing, which Chinese authorities have also temporarily closed due to landslide risks. The devastated site also lies along the proposed route of a railway connecting the region to Kathmandu. Pandey argues Nepal should develop an alternative trade route. "We have put all eggs here," he said.

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