A flash flood swept into Nepal’s Bhote Koshi River from the Chinese side early Wednesday, hitting Timure and Syabrubesi in Rasuwa district and prompting high-alert warnings downstream as far as Muglin. Prime Minister Balen Shah ordered officials to relocate residents from low-lying areas. The disaster is the second major flood on this stretch of river in just over a year, and officials said the cause may be a glacial lake outburst in Tibet.
A flash flood swept into Nepal's Bhote Koshi River from the Chinese side early Wednesday, tearing through the border settlements of Timure and Syabrubesi in Rasuwa district and triggering high-alert warnings as far downstream as Muglin. People have been swept away and the death toll is likely to be high. Prime Minister Balen Shah in an emergency meeting ordered district officials to relocate residents from low-lying areas along the river.
This is the second major disaster to hit this stretch of river in just over a year. A flood in the same area on July 8, 2025, originating from Tibet's Lhende river, killed at least nine people, left 19 missing, destroyed the Miteri Bridge connecting Nepal and China and damaged the Rasuwagadhi dry port and nearby hydropower projects. That disaster cut off Nepal's main overland trade route with China for months. Whether Wednesday's flood matches that scale is not yet known.
