A sudden flash flood on the Budhi Gandaki river has swept away homes and bridges in Nepal's Gorkha district, leaving five people missing and cutting off villages in the Himalayan foothills. The flood began on Saturday after a landslide blocked the river upstream, and Nepal's army and police have since rescued 82 people, including nine foreigners.
Gorkha lies about 100 km west of Kathmandu, and the Budhi Gandaki valley is better known to many Indian travellers as the route of the popular Manaslu trek.
How the flood started
According to Nepal Police, a landslide blocked the Budhi Gandaki between Lokpa and Chumling in ward 6 of Chumnubri Rural Municipality. When the water broke through, a surge of flood water rushed downstream, tearing through riverside settlements, bridges and a hydropower project camp, where some construction equipment was carried away.
Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) said five people, two women and three men, are missing. No deaths had been confirmed by Sunday.
"Our house is gone, we have no electricity… but there have been no casualties," Laxmi Gurung, a local official from Chumnubri, said.
Homes and bridges lost
Around a dozen houses were swept away in the worst-hit areas, with some reports putting the number of damaged homes much higher as water entered settlements further downstream. In Sirdibas, Ram Bahadur Gurung lost a mud house to the water. In the lower Machhakhola settlement, water entered five to seven houses and a similar number of sheds, while 20 to 22 houses in Salleri were reported to be at risk.
Three bridges were washed away, according to local police:
- An old suspension footbridge linking Nyakchet and Sirdibas in Chumnubri.
- A suspension footbridge linking Machhakhola in Dharche Rural Municipality with Kerauja.
- A steel bridge at Soti, connecting two wards of Aarughat Rural Municipality.
NDRRMA chief executive Dharam Raj Uprety also described the loss of a highway bridge linking Gorkha with neighbouring Dhading district, a key road link for the area.
| Location | Budhi Gandaki valley, Gorkha district, Nepal |
| Started | Saturday, October 10, 2026 |
| Cause | Landslide blocked the river, then burst |
| Missing | 5 (2 women, 3 men) |
| Rescued | 82, including 9 foreigners |
| Bridges lost | 3 reported by police, plus a Gorkha–Dhading road bridge |
| Districts on alert | Gorkha, Tanahun, Chitwan, East and West Nawalparasi |
Rescue and warnings downstream
Army and police rescue teams reached the area and monitored the river from a helicopter. NDRRMA has issued alerts for people living along the river in Gorkha, Tanahun, Chitwan, East Nawalparasi and West Nawalparasi districts.
"We have asked villagers living along the riverbanks downstream to evacuate and remain safe," said Dharmendra Kumar Mishra, the top administrator of Gorkha district.
Why it matters for India
The Budhi Gandaki is part of the Gandaki river system. It joins the Trishuli, which flows on into the Narayani, the river that enters India as the Gandak in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. A flood pulse of this size in the upper catchment is closely watched by authorities downstream, especially at the end of the monsoon season.
The flood also affects Indian travellers. The Manaslu circuit, which follows the Budhi Gandaki valley, reopens for trekkers in autumn, and October is peak season. Anyone with plans in the Gorkha region should check with their trekking agency on route closures, as several footbridges used on the lower trail have been damaged.
A tough season for Nepal
This is not the first disaster Nepal has faced this year. Heavy rain in late September killed at least 21 people across the country, and landslides and floods have repeatedly cut highways in the hills. Experts have long warned that steep valleys, fragile slopes and construction along rivers make districts like Gorkha especially vulnerable to landslide-dam floods.
What happens next
The search for the five missing people is continuing, and officials are assessing whether the landslide blockage upstream poses any further risk. Restoring the road bridge to Dhading and the footbridges that villages depend on will be the next challenge, as winter approaches and access to the upper valley becomes harder.
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