Rescue Efforts Intensify After Flash Flood Leaves Five Missing in Nepal's Gorkha District

On Sunday, a sudden deluge poured down on the Budhi Gandaki River, turning the low‑lying hamlets of Chumnubri Rural Municipality into a chaotic scene of rushing water and mud. The flash flood, triggered by a landslide that slammed into the Ungilung River near Dhaulibhir, ripped away homes, swept bridges and left dozens of residents stranded.

By Monday, the Nepali Army, working hand‑in‑hand with local officials, had pulled 95 people to safety. Rescue crews used four helicopters – including a sturdy MI‑17 – as well as ground teams that trekked through waist‑deep water to reach isolated families.

One of the dramatic moments came on Sunday evening when a navy‑blue army helicopter hovered over a collapsed cattle shed. “They were trapped after the landslide hit early that morning,” explained Narayan Sapkota, the chief administrative officer of the municipality. “We air‑lifted them to Philim as quickly as we could.”

The damage bill is sobering. Two suspension bridges and two motorable bridges have been washed away, three small hydropower projects are out of commission, and 34 cow‑sheds lie in ruin. Whole villages have been scarred – 45 houses are completely destroyed, another 27 bear only partial damage, and three vehicles have been swept downstream.

This disaster follows the August 26 Bhotekoshi catastrophe that claimed hundreds of lives and left thousands missing. The back‑to‑back calamities have reignited fears about the fragility of settlements perched along Himalayan river corridors, where a blocked stream can unleash a wall of water when it finally gives way.

Authorities have mobilised more than 700 security personnel, including 171 army soldiers, to the worst‑hit zones. They have distributed tents, blankets, mattresses, sleeping bags and makeshift kitchen sets, trying to bring a sliver of normalcy back to families shaken by the flood.

As rescue operations continue, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) says five people – two women among them – remain unaccounted for. The community waits, hopeful yet anxious, for any news of their safe return.