A survivor is transported to a safer place in a JCB following a flash flood at Trishuli in Nuwakot district, Nepal, on Aug. 26, 2026. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar
Thirty Canadians and permanent residents have been declared missing following flash floods that swept through an area along the Nepal-Tibet border earlier this week.
The Nepal tourism board’s website indicates that 667 foreign nationals are currently unaccounted for, including 25 Canadians. But Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says her office is aware of 30 Canadians and permanent residents in Nepal and the Tibet region whose whereabouts and safety have yet to be verified.
“Given the extremely difficult circumstances on the ground, this number may fluctuate as new information comes in,” Anand said on social media. “Our consular officials are working urgently to establish contact and confirm their safety.”
More than 360 people have been killed and more than 1,400 are still missing after a deluge of water and mud that was several stories tall washed through communities, destroying buildings and bridges on Aug. 26, according to the Nepal police.
None of the 31 foreign nationals reported as rescued by the tourism board to date have been Canadian.
Anand said Global Affairs Canada is dispatching five consular officials to Kathmandu to aid Canadians and work with local officials.
“In addition to working closely with Nepali and Chinese counterparts, we are also co-ordinating with international partners and allies who also have citizens in the region,” she said.
Global Affairs Canada’s website says 820 Canadians registered as being in Nepal and five in the Tibet Autonomous Region as of Aug. 26, but the department noted that establishing full communication with those on the ground is challenging due to power outages in the region.
Canadians in the region are being asked to sign up for Registration of Canadians Abroad, a no-cost service that allows the federal government to communicate with and aid citizens in times of crisis while abroad.
Anand is also urging all Canadians in the region to contact the Emergency Watch and Response Centre for emergency consular assistance.
It was initially reported that flooding along the Nepal-Tibet border was a result of an earthquake. Monitors first detected a seismic signal equivalent to a magnitude 4.4 earthquake but the U.S. Geological Survey later clarified that the seismic energy was actually generated when a huge chunk of ice and rock smashed onto the valley floor.
The massive impact and subsequent debris flow unleashed a tsunami-like wave of mud and water that devastated riverside areas on both sides of the border.
A dammed lake that is overflowing upstream, situated near the Nepal–Tibet border at the junction of the Chhochen Khola and Purepu Tsangpo rivers, poses an ongoing threat to recovery and rescue operations in the area, officials said. As of Aug. 27, the lake is holding back roughly two million cubic metres of water and has already begun overtopping its banks.
With heavy rain forecast over the region, an additional three million cubic metres of water is expected to enter the lake over the next three days. Officials warn of a high risk of a catastrophic breach, with peak water flow expected around Sept. 1.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
