Hundreds Missing After Deadly Flash Flood on Nepal-China Border

A massive flash flood tore through the Trishuli Bazaar area of Nepal's Nuwakot District on Wednesday, killing at least 31 people and leaving hundreds more missing after a landslide-triggered wall of water destroyed infrastructure near the China border.

Landslide, Not a Glacial Lake Outburst, Triggered the Flood

The U.S. Geological Survey said the event that set off the disaster wasn't an earthquake but an exceptionally powerful landslide, equivalent in force to a magnitude 5.2 earthquake. Meteorologists said the landslide sent rock and ice into the Lhende River, blocking it and triggering the cascading flood that swept through the region.

Initial reports pointed to a possible glacial lake outburst flood above the Bhotekoshi River, but scientists have since said that explanation doesn't fit. A geomorphology professor at Berlin's Freie Universität said that satellite imagery shows no major lakes upstream of the flood path, ruling out a glacial lake outburst. That's a different mechanism from the glacial lake outburst flood that killed 18 people in the same region last year.

CCTV footage showed a massive wall of water overwhelming local infrastructure and slamming vehicles into walls as people fled. Houses along the riverside were left partially submerged in muddy water in the flood's aftermath.