Nepal floods: Families search hospitals as death toll reaches 270

Kathmandu,UPDATED: Aug 27, 2026 16:08 IST

Hundreds of people gathered outside hospitals in Nepal on Thursday looking for family members and friends who went missing in flash floods that have killed at least 270 people. Rescue teams continued to search riverbanks and downstream areas for those still unaccounted for, as authorities worked to identify the dead and reconcile casualty figures.

The floods swept through Rasuwa and other parts of central Nepal on Wednesday before surging downstream along the Trishuli and Narayani river systems. According to the Nepal Tourism Board, 826 people were reported missing, including 590 tourists, of whom 476 were foreigners.

At Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj, hundreds of people gathered to find relatives who had been out of contact since the floods, The Kathmandu Post reported. Authorities put up lists of people brought to the hospital so families could check whether their loved ones were among those rescued or under treatment. Photographs of those who had died were also displayed, while officials set up desks to record the names and details of people still missing. The hospital's emergency ward was crowded with injured people from the affected areas. An early Thursday update from Nepal's health authorities said 20 injured people were being treated at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, while others were receiving care at hospitals including Trishuli Hospital in Nuwakot and Bir Hospital in Kathmandu.

Outside the Trauma Centre in Kathmandu, a relative searching for his brother-in-law told PTI Videos, "We have been searching for him everywhere, but we have not been able to find his whereabouts. If you find anyone by this name in any hospital, please let us know. I will show you his photograph. Please look for him."

Similar scenes were reported at Bharatpur Hospital in Chitwan, where families continued to search for missing relatives as the number of bodies recovered from the Trishuli and Narayani rivers rose. Thakur Prasad Kandel and Lilawati Sapkota were among those looking for their brothers, who have been missing since Wednesday morning. Other families were also trying to find out whether those missing had survived, been rescued or were among the bodies recovered from the rivers.

The recovery operation also put pressure on facilities at Bharatpur Hospital, where the mortuary was reportedly running out of space. Nepalese local media quoted a senior police official as saying that nine bodies recovered in neighbouring Tanahun were sent back to the district because there was no room for them at the Bharatpur facility. The disaster also damaged health infrastructure in the affected areas. According to the Ekantipur news portal, quoting Nepal's health ministry, the Timure Health Post in Rasuwa, the Syafrubeshi Health Post and the Rasuwagadhi Help Desk were completely damaged by the flood.

Health authorities were coordinating emergency treatment and rescue efforts across the affected districts, while government agencies and security forces continued the search for survivors and the missing. The flash floods began after an avalanche blocked the flow of the Lhende tributary of the Bhote Koshi River, and the resulting surge hit Timure near Nepal's border with Tibet, causing widespread destruction downstream.

With PTI Inputs

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