One of the world’s most sought-after destinations for adventurous hikers and mountaineers has been hit by a devastating natural disaster, after sudden flash floods and cascading landslides along the Nepal-Tibet border left at least 165 people confirmed dead and more than 1,300 others unaccounted for as of Thursday.
Nepal’s national disaster management agency updated official figures Thursday, reporting 823 people still missing within Nepali territory. That total includes roughly 579 people who are either Nepali or international tourists visiting the region, though no breakdown of foreign nationalities has been released in the official count. Across the shared border, Chinese authorities confirmed 558 people remain missing on their side, nearly half of whom are foreign nationals.
Nepal draws hundreds of thousands of adventure travelers every year, who flock to the Himalayan nation to tackle iconic high-altitude routes including Mount Everest, the world’s tallest peak. Disaster response officials have warned that official casualty and missing person counts are likely to shift in the coming days, a common pattern in the aftermath of large-scale catastrophes. Fluctuations can stem from overlapping counts of dual citizens, ongoing efforts to match recovered remains to missing person reports, and the widespread chaos that disrupts information-gathering immediately after a disaster.
Authorities and governments around the world have been working around the clock to confirm the status of their citizens caught in the disaster. On China’s side of the border, 298 Chinese nationals are currently listed as missing.
As of the last updated Nepali Tourism Board data from Wednesday, 142 Indian nationals are unaccounted for, all of whom were traveling with three local tour operators: Samrat Tours & Travels, Leaf Holiday, and Himalayan Glacier.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry announced Thursday that Nepali tourist police had confirmed 53 Ukrainian citizens are missing, including a large group of 46 travelers that authorities lost contact with after the floods struck. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed 34 Australians are missing, with 15 of those part of a pilgrimage group that includes two teenagers, a representative from the group’s tour operator confirmed to AFP.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim reported Thursday that more than 50 Malaysian citizens in Nepal have not been reached since the disaster. Twelve UK citizens traveling with Alpine Eco Trek are unaccounted for per Wednesday’s tourism board data, with two additional Britons confirmed missing in the Rasuwagadhi region by Himalayan Glacier.
Nine South Korean hydropower workers have been out of contact in Nepal’s Rasuwa district since the floods hit, South Korea’s foreign ministry confirmed Wednesday. Japanese acting Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said she was deeply concerned by reports that five Japanese nationals are missing, posting to social media platform X that she “fervently prays that each and every irreplaceable life will be protected.”
Four South African travelers, also with the Alpine Eco Trek agency, are missing per Wednesday’s official list. Three U.S. citizens traveling with Fishtail Tours & Travels are unaccounted for, and Himalayan Glacier managing director Sanket Pandey confirmed an additional eight American travelers are in the missing group. Two Portuguese nationals, one woman and one man, are missing, with the country’s foreign ministry telling AFP it continues “to monitor the situation minute by minute.”
One Dutch citizen traveling with the same tour operator as the missing Australian group is also unaccounted for. In Italy, the foreign ministry confirmed two Italian nationals and their local guide were stranded upstream of a major landslide, though they are already receiving emergency assistance. Italian officials have accounted for 90 Italian citizens currently in the Nepal-Tibet border region, but have not yet confirmed if any others are affected. New Zealand’s foreign ministry reported five New Zealanders are unaccounted for, and Pandef confirmed 10 Canadian and two Singaporean citizens are also among the missing.
China’s official missing count of 558 includes 260 foreign nationals, but no nationality breakdown has been released for that group. Multiple Nepali tour operators have also reported unaccounted-for foreign travelers whose nationalities have not yet been confirmed: 77 with Trekkers Society, 26 with Kailash Journey, and eight with Richa Tours & Travels.