Flash floods in Nepal wash away border bridge with China
The continuous monsoon rainfall in China on Monday night triggered a flood in the Bhotekoshi River in Nepal.
The Miteri Bridge in Rasuwa district, 120 km northeast of Kathmandu, was swept away by flooding at around 3:15 am on Tuesday.
Eighteen people, including six Chinese nationals, have gone missing, official sources said.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), 11 people, including two police personnel, were rescued by the joint team of Nepal Army, Armed Police Force and Nepal Police.
Arjun Paudel, chief district officer of Rasuwa, said the flood caused heavy damage. Authorities have advised residents downstream to move to safer areas.
The flooding also swept away several houses and five electric vehicles imported from China.
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The Hindu
3 hours ago
- The Hindu
Eight dead, 31 missing in floods on China-Nepal border
Floods triggered by torrential rains tore down a Himalayan mountain valley between China and Nepal on Tuesday (July 8, 2025), with at least eight killed and 31 missing, officials and state media said. The wall of water also swept away one of the main bridges linking Nepal and China over the Bhotekoshi river. Deadly floods and landslides are common across South Asia during the monsoon season from June to September but experts say climate change is making them worse. In Nepal, eight bodies have been recovered and 20 others - 14 Nepalis and six Chinese - are listed as missing, according to police. "Our focus is on search and rescue efforts. We have rescued 57 people so far," Nepal police spokesperson Binod Ghimire told AFP. China's state television CCTV reported that a "mudslide disaster" hit the border area around dawn on Tuesday (July 8, 2025), with 11 people missing on the Chinese side. It said those were in addition to six Chinese construction workers swept away on the Nepal side. Increasingly intense floods and droughts are a "distress signal" of what is to come as climate change makes the planet's water cycle ever more unpredictable, the U.N.'s World Meteorological Organization said last year. And the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) warned in June that communities face heightened disaster risks this monsoon season. "Rising temperatures and more extreme rain raise the risk of water-induced disasters such as floods, landslides, and debris flows," ICIMOD said.
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Business Standard
5 hours ago
- Business Standard
20 missing as floods wash away Nepal-China border bridge in Rasuwa
At least 20 people were missing after a river flooded by monsoon rains on Tuesday washed away the Friendship Bridge connecting Nepal with China. The continuous monsoon rainfall in China on Monday night triggered a flood in the Bhotekoshi River in Nepal. The Miteri Bridge in Rasuwa district, 120 km northeast of Kathmandu, was swept away by flooding at around 3:15 am on Tuesday. Twenty people, including six Chinese nationals, have gone missing, official sources said. According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), 55 people, including four Indian nationals and one Chinese, were rescued by the joint team of Nepal Army, Armed Police Force and Nepal Police. Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli visited the flood-affected areas near the Nepal-China border, including parts of Rasuwa district. He was accompanied by Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak and Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel. Oli in a social media post said the government is working on a war-footing to rescue those affected by the devastating floods in Rasuwa. Expressing deep sorrow over the loss of lives and property due to the floods in the Lhende Stream and Trishuli River, he said, All concerned authorities have been instructed to ensure effective rescue and relief operations. The prime minister said he has postponed all pre-scheduled programmes, except the most essential ones, to focus on coordinating emergency relief efforts and is in constant contact with security agencies to monitor ongoing rescue operations. There are heartbreaking reports of casualties, missing persons, and significant physical damage," Oli said. Arjun Paudel, chief district officer of Rasuwa, said the flood caused heavy damage. Authorities have advised residents downstream to move to safer areas. The flooding also swept away several houses and five electric vehicles imported from China. Police recovered two bodies from the Trishuli River in Gajuri Rural Municipality of Dhading district on Tuesday morning. Their identities could not be ascertained. The Nepal Army's rescue team has also rescued 23 labourers, including a Chinese national, who were stranded at the Rasuwagadhi Hydropower project after the area was submerged due to the flood triggered by the heavy rain. The hydropower plant was also partially damaged due to the flood, according to local authorities. Meanwhile, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in a report released on Tuesday said excessive rainfall was not the real cause behind the flash flood in Rasuwa district. It is too early to determine the exact cause of the flood event in Rasuwa... However, it can be confirmed that extreme rainfall was not the cause, it said. A comprehensive investigation is required, but for that, we need to wait for monsoon cloud cover to clear first to obtain satellite imagery for detailed analysis, ICIMOD said. A multi-disciplinary team consisting of geologists, glaciologists, hydrometeorologists and remote sensing analysts should jointly undertake a study to determine the actual cause of the flood, it said. While a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) or a Landslide Lake Outburst Flood (LLOF) is suspected, there is no conclusive evidence yet, the ICIMOD report said. "While it is too soon to say what caused the massive floods in Rasuwa... what we do know with absolute certainty is that global temperature rise is driving increases in the frequency, ferocity, and complexity of mountain hazards," ICIMOD Director General Pema Gyamtsho said. "In June alone, three lake outbursts (one thermokarst lake in Tilgaun, Humla, Nepal, one GLOF in Andorab valley, Afghanistan, Chitral, Hunza, Pakistan) have torn through our region, on top of horrific floods in India and Pakistan; tragically confirming our Monsoon Outlook's predictions of a high-hazard summer, he said.
Hindustan Times
6 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
18 people, bridge linking Nepal to China swept away in monsoon floods
A mountain river flooded by monsoon rains swept away the main bridge connecting Nepal with China on Tuesday, leaving 18 people missing, Nepali authorities said. A member of the Nepalese army airlifts people stranded during the flood at Bhotekoshi river, Nepal, July 8, 2025.(via REUTERS) Rescue efforts were underway and an army helicopter was able to lift people stranded by the flooding. Police said 95 rescuers were already at the area and more are expected to join in rescue efforts. The flooding on the Bhotekoshi River destroyed the Friendship Bridge at Rasuwagadi, which is 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of the capital, Kathmandu. Several houses and trucks that were parked at the border for customs inspections also were swept away. Hundreds of electric vehicles imported from China had been parked at the border point. The 18 missing are 12 Nepali citizens and six Chinese nationals, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority. The Chinese along with eight Nepalis were workers at a Chinese-assisted construction project on the Nepali side of the border, according to the Chinese Embassy in Nepal, quoted by state media. The destruction of the bridge has halted all trade from China to Nepal through this route. The longer alternative is for goods to be shipped from China to India and then brought overland to Nepal. Monsoon rains that begin in June and end in September often cause severe flooding in Nepal, disrupting infrastructure and endangering lives.
