Devastating floods on 26 August swept away the vital Nepal-China trade crossing at Rasuwagadhi-Gyirong, leaving more than 100 Indian nationals missing. The destruction at the border complex, including the Friendship Bridge and Nepal's immigration and customs facilities, was extensive.
India's foreign ministry reports that at least 275 Indians are still missing in Nepal. Nepal's Department of Immigration is attempting to reconstruct who was present at Rasuwagadhi in the hours leading up to the disaster.
Electronic records indicate that 89 Nepali and foreign nationals, including 32 Indians, 12 Chinese, and nine Americans, had cleared immigration to leave Nepal for Tibet. Four individuals had registered their entry into Nepal. The final transaction was recorded at 8:35:03am local time, less than 10 minutes before a torrent of water, mud, boulders, ice, and rock appeared on CCTV footage at Gyirong on the Chinese side.
A senior immigration assistant, Tika Ram Pokharel, who survived as he was in Kathmandu for an exam, estimates that 300 to 400 people were waiting to leave Nepal for Tibet that morning. He believes the total number of people caught in the flood could be significantly higher than official figures suggest, estimating "2,000 to 2,500 people" may have been impacted, though this figure is unverified.
Seismic instruments detected movement in the mountains above the border at 8:37am, attributed by researchers to a collapsing glacier that triggered the flood. China stated the mudslide reached the border crossing from its origin in approximately seven minutes.