Rasuwa | 26 Aug 2026
A sudden Rasuwa flood left 28 security personnel out of contact on Wednesday after the Bhote Koshi River surged through Timure and Syabrubesi, damaging settlements, police posts and power infrastructure and triggering downstream warnings across five Nepalese districts.
Search begins for 28 security personnel
The personnel include 19 members of Nepal Police and nine from the Armed Police Force, according to information presented at an emergency meeting of Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
Thirteen of the 22 officers assigned to the Rasuwagadhi Police Post remained unreachable, while six of nine officers stationed in Syabrubesi were also out of contact. Nine Armed Police Force personnel deployed at the Timure Border Outpost had not established contact.
The flood struck at about 9 am after water entered the Bhote Koshi from the Tibetan side of the Nepal–China border. Officials were still assessing the overall casualty toll and the full scale of the destruction.
Rasuwa flood alert extends downstream
Authorities placed communities along the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers on high alert in Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha and Chitwan. Residents near riverbanks, markets and other vulnerable areas were instructed to move to safer ground.
The government advised people to avoid the Prithvi Highway, the Galchhi–Nuwakot–Rasuwa–Syabrubesi road and the Mugling–Narayangadh corridor while emergency operations continued.
Floodwater entered Nuwakot District Prison, but its inmates were transferred to a safe location. The water level there later began receding, according to the prison administration.
Homes and power infrastructure damaged
Preliminary assessments indicated that approximately 60 houses near Trishuli Bazaar in Nuwakot were swept away. Two concrete bridges across the Trishuli River were also destroyed. No deaths had been reported in Nuwakot at the time of the district administration’s initial assessment.
The Nepal Electricity Authority reported damage to six major power facilities: Rasuwagadhi, Chilime, Trishuli 3A, the Trishuli 3B Hub 220-kilovolt substation, Trishuli Hydropower Station and Devighat Hydropower Station. Electricity distribution infrastructure was also affected.
Markets, houses, hotels and vehicles were reported damaged in Timure and Syabrubesi. Three Nepal Police offices—the Timure Area Police Office, Syabrubesi Police Post and Rasuwagadhi Police Post—also sustained damage.
Flood cause and rescue response
The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology said rainfall was not considered the cause of the flood. Senior meteorologist Meen Kumar Aryal said rainfall in parts of Rasuwa had not exceeded seven millimetres during the preceding 24 hours.
Officials were investigating whether a glacial lake outburst or another upstream event caused the sudden surge. No definitive cause had been established.
Prime Minister Balendra Shah ordered intensified search, rescue and relief operations. The Nepali Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and district authorities mobilised personnel, while two military helicopters and medical teams were deployed to the affected region.
The government also convened emergency disaster-management and Cabinet meetings to coordinate evacuations, relief supplies and the search for those who remained unreachable.
