27/08/2026
Tonight we pray for the people in Tibet and Nepal, for the lives lost, for the people left injured and homeless, and for the search and rescue teams scrambling to find survivors.
Horrible news continues to come out of numerous communities in Nepal, as the death toll climbs to over 160 - with more than 600 people still missing, including 34 Australians.
A significant ice and rock-filled landslide occurred on the Northern side of Langtang yesterday (Wednesday, August 26th 2026) at around 8:30-9am local time. The landslide triggered a Mag 5.2 earthquake in one of the crevices along the Northern side of the mountain range. Initially, it was believed that the earthquake triggered the landslide - however it has since been analysed the other way around, that the landslide triggered a seismic wave through the mountain range.
This landslide sent an avalanche of ice and rock down multiple crevices on the Northern side of Langtang, which fed into the Donglinzangbu. This river (Donglinzangbu) then joins the Trishuli River as it turns South into Nepal. The narrow shape of the river, and the fact it had so much debris feeding into it, caused literally a wall of water to surge down. This then devastated numerous communities - with catastrophic flooding observed as far South as Central Nepal. The Bhotekoshi, Trishuli and Narayani rivers all received deadly flooding.
Multiple bridges (19) have been completely washed away, some were well-established concrete bridges, and over 40km of road also washed away. Flood waters have been seen looking like a tsunami through some towns, with large well-established buildings copping significant, irreparable damage and some being completely destroyed. Those that are still standing, have mud up the 2nd, 3rd and 4th stories, with the entire bottom floor being submerged.
More than 160 people have been confirmed dead, with the latest reports ranging from 400-700 people still missing. This includes 47 Americans, 34 Australians, 33 Brits & 24 Canadians (by the last count at the time of the post). Hundreds of Nepalese citizens were trekking in the Gosaikunda Lake area - at least 62 of these people are still missing. At least 28 police officers are also still missing.
