77 Isha pilgrims missing after flash flood near China-Nepal border

Kathmandu,UPDATED: Aug 27, 2026 20:52 IST

A group of 77 pilgrims linked to the Isha Foundation remained missing on Wednesday after a massive flash flood hit areas near the China-Nepal border, killing three people in Tibet and 359 in Nepal. The flood struck Gyirong Township in Tibet Autonomous Region on Wednesday morning and swept through villages and towns in the border region, while hundreds of people remained missing.

According to Isha Foundation founder Jaggi Vasudev, known as Sadhguru, one of the organisation’s Kailash pilgrimage groups was caught in the flood while returning to Nepal. He said there was no official information on the whereabouts of those missing at the immigration office in Gyirong, and the Nepal government has said the entire staff of that immigration centre are also out of contact.

The 77-member group was led by the Isha Foundation, which organises multiple Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimages each season. The groups travel from Kathmandu through Nepal to Tibet, with part of the pilgrimage involving trekking on foot. In a message on his official Facebook page on Wednesday, Sadhguru said the group was at the immigration office in Gyirong when the flood struck and that the building, along with much of the town, was reportedly inundated. He also said three volunteers were stuck in Timure in Nepal.

The missing pilgrims include 22 people from the US, 12 from Canada, 11 from Australia, nine from the UK, four from Germany, three each from France and Nepal, two each from the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore and Spain, and one each from Finland, Hungary, Israel, Lithuania, the Philippines, Portugal, Russia and South Africa. “We are working with the authorities to see if we can get to the location and stand ready to be part of the rescue efforts, regardless of the risk involved,” Sadhguru wrote.

Sadhguru said 21 groups were part of the pilgrimage, with 495 people having returned safely, 743 currently in Tibet and 148 in Nepal. He said he was personally in the region and that rescue efforts were under way. However, officials of the Nepal Tourism Board said they had no information about the matter and were trying to verify it.

Earlier on Wednesday, Nepalese Foreign Minister Khanal told Parliament that an earthquake struck the Tibet region at 8.37 am local time and flash floods were reported three minutes later, suggesting the tremors may have caused a glacial outburst that triggered the flooding. However, the US Geological Survey said the flash floods were caused by a glacial collapse and not by the 4.4-magnitude earthquake reported earlier. Overall, the floods left a trail of destruction in the border region, while the 77 missing pilgrims and the immigration centre staff remained out of contact.

With PTI Inputs

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