Rescue teams in Nepal are racing against time as the death toll from devastating flash floods climbs to 734, with 2,498 people still out of contact following the 26 August disaster. In Nuwakot district, one family's ordeal has put a human face to the catastrophe — four members were swept away along with their home in a matter of seconds, leaving a single survivor.

A Family Wiped Out in Seconds

Tularam Gurmir, a local resident of Nuwakot, stood beside his cousin — the sole surviving member of an entire family — as he recounted the horror. 'His entire family was swept away. Everyone in the family, whoever was there, all were swept away...his mother, father, sister, sister's son, all were swept away...only he got saved by just a minute, because he had stepped out to have tea,' Gurmir said.

According to Gurmir, his cousin had barely stepped outside when he spotted the approaching landslide. He rushed back to warn his family, but it was already too late. 'As soon as he saw the approaching landslide, he rushed to alert the family, but it was too late. He could not save them,' Gurmir added. The survivor, he noted, is currently in no condition to speak. 'From their house to livelihood, everything related to the family has been swept away,' he said.

Families Wait at Kathmandu Morgue

At the Postmortem Block of Maharajgunj Medical Campus, Tribhuvan University Institute of Medicine in Kathmandu, grief-stricken families gathered hoping for news of their loved ones. Posters bearing victims' details lined the hospital morgue as relatives waited for identification updates.

One family member described the agonising wait: 'The security told us to wait for some time, and then we'll just identify the dead body and take it for the ritual procedure.' The brother of a missing army officer, who had travelled from Janakpur district, held up his sibling's photograph outside the morgue, his face drawn with uncertainty.

A relative of another missing person said the family had no information on whether he was alive or dead. 'We last spoke to him at around 8:45 am on Wednesday. After that, there was no contact...Nothing has been found yet,' he said. He added that repeated calls to authorities had yielded no answers: 'Whether he is alive or dead, we have no contact or information at all.'

Scale of the Disaster

Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) confirmed that the 26 August floods have killed 734 people to date. A further 2,498 individuals remain out of contact, including 589 foreigners. The scale of the disaster makes it one of the deadliest flood events Nepal has recorded in recent years.

This comes amid a broader pattern of increasingly severe monsoon flooding across South Asia. Nepal's mountainous terrain makes it acutely vulnerable to flash floods and landslides, particularly during the June–September monsoon season. The Nuwakot district, situated along river valleys north of Kathmandu, has historically been among the worst-affected zones.

Rescue Operations Continue

Search and rescue teams remain deployed across affected districts as authorities attempt to account for the thousands still missing. The high number of foreign nationals among the uncontacted — 589 — suggests the disaster may have struck trekking routes or tourist areas, though officials have not confirmed specific locations. With the monsoon season not yet over, the risk of further flooding and landslides remains elevated.