Nepal UK
A sudden surge on the Budhi Gandaki river before dawn damaged settlements on the Manaslu Circuit route in northern Gorkha. Home Minister Sudan Gurung, whose own constituency is affected, has ordered riverside communities to move to safety. Officials have confirmed no deaths so far, but reports of the missing differ.
A flash flood struck the Budhi Gandaki river in Chumnubri Rural Municipality, Gorkha district, at about 4:00 to 4:30 am on Sunday 11 October, as Nepal began Dashain. It swept away bridges, destroyed houses and cut off a village on the popular Manaslu Circuit trekking route. Home Minister Sudan Gurung wrote on Facebook that the damage lay in his own constituency, and urged residents along the river to relocate at once. The event comes six weeks after the 26 August Bhote Koshi flood, and many Nepalese families abroad have relatives in the affected hills.
What has been confirmed
Timing and place: The flood began around 4:00 am according to Ratopati, and about 4:30 am according to The Himalayan Times. It hit Chumnubri Rural Municipality ward 3 and settlements downriver, including Jagat, Salleri, Dovan, Ghattekhola, and the Arughat area.
Casualties: Police said no deaths had been reported so far, per Radio Nepal and Ratopati. Assistant Chief District Officer Netra Prasad Sharma told RSS that 10 people were missing; ANI and Onlinekhabar carried this figure. The Himalayan Times, published earlier at 10:17 am Nepal time, reported four herders unaccounted for, and Ratopati's trekker report also said four were missing. The missing count therefore remains unresolved (four to ten).
Rescue: The Nepal Army said six people were evacuated; The Himalayan Times says they were airlifted from Jagat. The Prime Minister, Balendra Shah, said an army contingent was deployed by air and land and helicopters mobilised, as quoted by ANI.
Housing: About 35 houses were swept away in Paiyu and Bagar, Chumnubri-3, according to Vice-Chairperson Laxmi Gurung (Himalayan Times, Ratopati). At Jagat, the Chumnubri chief administrative officer, Narayan Prasad Sapkota, said nine houses were swept away but residents were safe, and at least 25 houses were cut off (Onlinekhabar, 2:06 pm).
Bridges: Reports agree that several were lost; the number varies. Onlinekhabar, ANI and Radio Nepal say six, but their own lists name seven structures, and The Himalayan Times names three. Named losses include the Nyakchet–Philim Bazaar bridge, the Machhikhola bridge, the Soti–Manbu motorable bridge, and a Bailey bridge in Dharche Rural Municipality. Treat any total as provisional.
Livestock: The Himalayan Times reports four sheds along the Ungilung stream and 15 yaks and nak cattle washed away.
What the Home Minister said
Gurung's Facebook post, as provided to NepalUK, said Nepal was again facing a severe flood, that a bridge linking Nyakchet and Philim Bazaar had been swept away, that muddy water had entered homes in the Ghattekhola area and that the river's flow was still rising. He said police, the Armed Police Force and local administration, with helicopters, had been deployed. He asked residents of Sirdibas, Jagat, Salleri, Kholbesi, Machhakhola, Soti, Arkhet and Arughat to move to safe places, and gave the Home Ministry emergency number 1234. Ratopati and Onlinekhabar report the same appeal; Ratopati also says he was travelling to the area.
Why it happened: not yet established
The Himalayan Times reports that the surge followed the collapse of a landslide blockage near Philim. This is a single-outlet report and has not been confirmed by an official or scientific source. ANI says only that the river's flow surged and names no trigger. Do not assume a glacial or rainfall cause. For context only: ICIMOD documented a different event, a 21 April 2024 flood on the same river caused by ice avalanches from the Manaslu Glacier, which it said was not a glacial lake outburst flood. That analysis does not apply to today's event.
Downstream risk
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, citing the Flood Forecasting Division at 9:25 am, said the Trishuli river up to Benighat was at very high risk and up to Mugling at high risk, with moderate risk for Chitwan and Nawalparasi (Himalayan Times). The Budhi Gandaki joins the Trishuli system downstream. Radio Nepal lists the Nepal Flood Information page and the line 1155 (option two) for updates.
Trekkers and visitors
Ratopati reports that tourists on the Manaslu Circuit are stranded, without giving numbers or nationalities. Ratopati also carries a headline about 15 people trapped in a forest at Yarukhola, and Onlinekhabar a headline about an army rescue of 36 people; NepalUK could not open either report, so neither is verified. Overseas visitors and their families should contact their embassies. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office travel advice for Nepal is the place to check for official guidance; we did not find a new notice in this scan.
Competing accounts and uncertainties
Figures for the missing, bridges and houses differ between reports published hours apart, which is normal in a fast-moving disaster.
Jagat residents are described as safe but stranded; access up and down the valley is cut.
No casualty figure is final. Damage assessments were ongoing.
The Home Ministry and Prime Minister's Office had not published a full situation report at the time of writing.
What may happen next
Water levels were still fluctuating above the danger mark, so further bridge and trail damage is possible. Dashain travel, already disrupted by highway blockages, may be affected on routes through Dhading and Gorkha. Because the Bhote Koshi flood has already exposed weaknesses in early warning (Nepali Times analysis, undated in our search), expect questions about whether warnings reached upstream villages before 4:00 am.
