'The flood took everything': Nepal survivors describe horror of loved ones being swept away

ByBBC Nepali and Gabriela Pomeroy. 27 August 2026, 07: 43 BST.

Key points

• Trekking guide Sonam Dorjee missed the flood in his home village of Rasiwa Syafru by regarding an hour.
• "My family members were swept away by the flood in front of my eyes, " Kalpana Malla from Nepal's Nuwakot district informed the BBC.
• Mani Shrestha Bishwa was additionally camped out at the hospital on Wednesday night, hoping to hear from his younger brother, cousin, uncle and friend.
• Rescuers trudged through thick mud and debris on Thursday as Nepalese authorities rushed to bring aid and relief supplies to the affected areas.
• Her son, Sugam Malla, remarked he saved his mother by pulling her hand.

Survivors of massive flash floods in Nepal have recounted how they saw their loved ones disappear into torrents of mud.

More than 175 individuals have died and 800 others are missing after floods wiped out entire villages on the border of Nepal and Tibet on Wednesday, with a force so powerful seismologists initially identified it as an earthquake.

Malla remarked her father, mother, sister and sister's children were all maintained by the disaster.

"They could not escape the flood; there was no chance at all, " she remarked. "This flood took everything, but my son and I climbed the rooftop of a house and survived but couldn't explain how."

He remarked he had given his phone to his sister so she could keep in touch, but the mobile was no longer reachable. "I am worried she must be swept away."

Another woman, Goma Pandit, remarked she had lost her buffaloes and all her other cattle.

"My farmland is additionally swept away. Ten sacks of mustard seeds, tons of corn and rice paddy are all gone. Nothing is left."

At Kathmandu's TU Teaching Hospital, families of those missing in the floods wait anxiously for updates.

Holding up her phone, Ram Khumari Shrestha notes: This is my husband. He was off to Rasuwa as a part of his driving job. He was in contact with me until 8 pm yesterday.

"But I couldn't call him this morning. The phone was switched off, " she informed the BBC.

"I last contacted them at 8: 30 in the morning, " he remarked.

Trekking guide Sonam Dorjee missed the flood in his home village of Rasiwa Syafru by regarding an hour. He had left at 08: 00 local time.

As he was driving to Kathmandu, Dorjee informed the BBC he had heard the sound of floods gushing into their village.

"It like an earthquake, " he remarked. "My house has collapsed. I have seen a photo."

Dorjee remarked his sister, Dechen Tamang, was missing, along with her husband and a number of other family members. He described the flood as "sudden and devastating".

"Many survivors are now left without homes and they need emergency rescue and evacuation, as well as food, temporary accommodation and medical support."

He is praying his sister is discovered alive. "There is a 10% chance, we hope, " he remarked.

For now, ' The flood took everything' : Nepal survivors describe horror of loved ones being remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.