World | Deutsche Welle
· collected 2026-08-28 · by Lekhanath Pandey , Darko Janjevic
With the death toll in Nepal well into the hundreds and rising following a massive flash flood on Wednesday, the full scope of destruction remains unclear.
uncertain
scope → rise → destruction
People from the affected areas told DW that many villages remain both physically and electronically cut off from the capital, Kathmandu.
asserted
villages → affect → capital
Bidhya Rajput, a journalist based in the capital, said her home in the Sole village in Nepal's Nuwakot District was swept away by the Trisuli River.
asserted
home → base → River
"As far as we know, only four or five people from Sole village could save their lives by fleeing towards the hills.
uncertain
people → know → hills
Others couldn't make their way as the floods came up suddenly," she told DW.
asserted
she → make → DW
The government has declared Nuwakot, along with Rasuwa and Dhading districts, to be the most affected by the deadly floods.
asserted
Nuwakot → declare → floods
Rajput told DW her husband's parents remain missing.
asserted
parents → tell → DW
Her father-in-law, a teacher, may have been caught in the flood while returning home after work, according to the school principal.
uncertain
father → catch → principal
Rajput's husband has left for the village in search for news on his family members, despite the roads being damaged and swept away in many places.
asserted
roads → leave → places
Rajput said that there are no further updates from the village as there has been no electricity or mobile communication since early morning on Thursday.
asserted
Rajput → say → Thursday
"The state's rescue and relief efforts have been centered mostly on bigger cities," she said, adding that "state assistance is yet to reach Sole."
Villagers said the same area was affected by flooding last year, but many villagers managed to get to higher ground and the water did not reach as high as on Tuesday.
"Had the villagers received early warning information, [and] could have presumed that this time floods would be so massive, they could have fled to safe locations like last year," Rajput said.
uncertain
Rajput → center → year
"This time, they couldn't get even that chance."
asserted
they → get → chance
'Two of my close relatives are missing'
asserted
Two → miss → relatives
But Usha Kiran Timsena, an opposition politician from Nuwakot, said police and local officials did issue a warning that a massive flood was coming.
asserted
flood → say → warning
However, many people in the area simply didn't account for the scale and speed of the mass of water.
asserted
people → account → water
"Many those who were a bit far from riversides took it lightly and couldn't flee once the flood reaches to their places," she told DW.
asserted
she → take → DW
"Two of my close relatives have been missing since yesterday morning.
asserted
Two → miss → morning
There has been no further update or contact since then."
Authorities said that more than three dozen bridges, including vehicular and suspension bridges, as well as a dozen hydropower dams, have been destroyed by the floods.
asserted
bridges → say → floods
Sujan Lohani from Dhading told DW that he never imagined that the flooding and destruction caused by the Trishuli River could be so massive and widespread.
uncertain
flooding → tell → River
The main bridge over the Trishuli River, connecting his district headquarters with the capital Kathmandu, has been swept away.
asserted
bridge → connect → capital
"I am worried that my cousin is now in the village," he told DW.
asserted
he → tell → DW
"We are disconnected from Kathmandu.
asserted
We → disconnect → Kathmandu
"
Hundreds of survivors airlifted from affected areas
Nepal's authorities are racing to reach survivors in the affected areas.
asserted
authorities → airlift → areas
With over a 1,300 people still missing, including hundreds of foreign nationals, as of Thursday, Nepal's neighbors India and China are coordinating with Kathmandu on the disaster response.
asserted
neighbors → miss → response
Rescue teams are airlifting stranded and injured people to the capital, while police, military and ordinary citizens are building temporary shelters for the displaced.
asserted
police → airlift → displaced
"We are putting our all-out efforts to rescue people alive," Nepal's Minister for Information and Communication Bikram Timilsina told DW.
asserted
Timilsina → put → DW
Timilsina represents the flood-hit Nuwakot-1 constituency in the House of Representatives and is currently in the affected region.
asserted
Timilsina → represent → region
He described the destruction as enormous
"Entire villages have been swept away.
asserted
villages → describe → destruction
Many have tragically lost their lives.
asserted
Many → lose → lives
Many are out of contact," he said.
asserted
he → say → contact
"I don't think our state mechanism had ever imagined a flood and disaster of such magnitude," Timilsina said.
asserted
Timilsina → think → magnitude
At the same time, Timilsina noted said the state has mobilized all its resources, including more than a dozen helicopters, to transport survivors to safety and deliver aid.
asserted
state → say → aid
At least 414 stranded people, including 164 foreigners were airlifted by mid-day Thursday, according to the minister.
uncertain
people → strand → minister
What do experts say about the cause of the flood?
asserted
experts → say → flood
Scientists are still debating the exact cause of the natural disaster, despite Beijing claiming it was triggered by a high-altitude glacier collapse.
asserted
it → debate → collapse
Sudip Thakuri, a climate scientist and associate professor at Central Department of Environmental Science at Nepal's Tribhuvan University, told DW that preliminary assessments indicate the flood was likely triggered by an avalanche on the Nepali side of the Nepal-China border.
asserted
flood → tell → border
"So far, what we have concluded is that a massive avalanche initially blocked a river flowing southwards from the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China.
asserted
avalanche → conclude → China
Once the avalanche-created landslide dam burst, it might also have swept away a subglacial lake downstream, triggering massive flooding," he said.
uncertain
he → create → flooding
Another climate scientist, Rijan Raj Kayastha, who teaches at Kathmandu University, warned of the possibility of further flooding due to other glacial lakes in the area.
asserted
who → teach → area
Separately, Chinese authorities also warned that another lake in Tibet's Gyirong, upstream from the flooded area in Nepal, was already overflowing and that another 3 millions of tons of water were expected to enter the lake over the next three days.
asserted
millions → warn → days
