Fresh Floods Claim Homes, Bridges in Nepal’s Gorkha District

A sudden surge in the Budhi Gandaki River on Sunday destroyed dozens of houses, several suspension bridges and damaged a hydropower construction site in the central Gorkha district.

Army officials said roughly fifty people were rescued from the riverbank but five remain missing, with no deaths confirmed yet.

Images released by the army show rising waters carrying away an entire building complex. The flood reached almost nine metres in a few hours, up from two metres earlier.

Experts suggest the rush may have been triggered by a landslide that temporarily blocked the river or an ice avalanche, releasing stored water. The debris flow was slower than the deadly August flood.

Save the Children has deployed an emergency team. Tara Chettry, the charity’s Nepal director said children were again ripped apart in an instant yet again.

The flood hit the area at the start of Dashain, Nepal’s major harvest festival, forcing families to flee and leaving many without shelter or supplies.

The Budhi Gandaki is a tributary of the Trishuli River, its earlier disaster caused by a glacier collapse. Nepal remains on high alert after the August tragedy that left over 1,400 dead and thousands missing.

More on this story: Read full BBC report