‘Mother was swept away’: Nepal flood survivors cling to hope amid search for missing
Flash floods in Nepal have resulted in over 700 deaths and thousands of missing persons, with rescue teams continuing to search through debris. Survivors, including young children, are being treated in hospitals as families search for their loved ones amidst ongoing bad weather.
Why it matters
The catastrophic scale of the flooding and the high number of missing individuals represent a major humanitarian crisis in the Himalayan region.
Five-year-old Ishara Tamang lies in a hospital bed in Kathmandu, injured and separated from her family, after surviving the flash floods that devastated Rasuwa district on the Nepal-Tibet border.
She was rescued from the floodwaters in Khalte, a village in Rasuwa, after being trapped in a net, the Onlinekhabar news portal reported. Ishara told hospital staff: “Mother was swept away. I jumped and moved forward, then got trapped in the net.” The August 26 floods - which travelled downstream through the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli river system - have left a trail of destruction across northern and central Nepal, with the death toll crossing 700 on Sunday (August 30, 2026), while around 2,500 people are still missing.
Nepal flash floods LIVE updates on August 30, 2026
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