The death toll from a catastrophic flood triggered by a Himalayan glacier collapse has climbed to at least 903, with thousands still missing—including dozens of Americans—as international rescue efforts struggle against the clock, according to officials and reports from the scene.
U.S. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott told Fox News that authorities were working to locate roughly 85 Americans as of Sunday evening, part of a broader crisis that has left entire mountain towns destroyed and more than 90,000 people directly impacted.
A Wall of Water, Ice, and Mud
The disaster unfolded high in the Himalayas near Nepal’s northern border with China, where a massive glacier and rock slope suffered a catastrophic collapse. The U.S. Geological Survey described the event as a slope failure involving a glacier that released energy equivalent to a magnitude 5.2 earthquake, sending a debris flow and flood roughly 100 kilometers—about 62 miles—down steep valleys. A second seismic event, equivalent to a magnitude 4.2 quake, was recorded about three hours later.
The result was a fast-moving “mountain tsunami”—a wall of churning mud, ice, trees, and heavy debris that surged through the Himalayan valleys. In some areas, river waters rose an astonishing 30 feet in just 30 minutes, giving residents almost no time to flee. The flood demolished homes, smashed bridges, tore up roads, and crippled telecommunications and electrical grids.
In Nepal, the official count of missing people skyrocketed to 4,247, including nearly 600 foreign nationals, as of Monday. Rescuers using heavy machinery, controlled explosives, and searchlights are digging through mud and rock around the clock in an effort to reach 933 workers missing from multiple hydropower projects in the Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts.
Rescuers Face Shifting Terrain, Overwhelmed Morgues
Disaster relief workers describe scenes of horrific destruction, with entire towns erased from the map in a matter of minutes. Morgues across the country are overwhelmed, forcing authorities in the Chitwan district to dig hundreds of emergency mass graves in a local forest to bury bodies that were washed many miles downstream.
Officials warn that navigating the shifting, unstable terrain could delay full recovery operations for months, leaving families clinging to hope as search crews sift through the wreckage. The harsh conditions are also complicating the international search effort, which is racing to locate thousands of victims swallowed up by the raging flood.
Second Catastrophe Feared
Adding to the danger, a massive landslide-dammed lake sitting above a critical Nepal–Tibet border checkpoint is currently overflowing. Officials fear it could burst and send a second wave of destructive water downstream, potentially worsening an already dire humanitarian situation.
With more than 90,000 people directly affected and entire mountain communities flattened, the road to recovery will be long and arduous. For now, rescuers and families alike are holding onto hope as the search continues through the mud, ice, and debris.
Source: www.dailywire.com — https://www.dailywire.com/news/dozens-of-americans-still-missing-as-flood-death-toll-nears-1000