2026年8月27日 / 美国东部时间凌晨3:23 / 哥伦比亚广播公司/美联社
周四，尼泊尔与中国边境沿线地区因前一日发生的冰川崩塌引发灾难性致命洪水与泥石流，席卷多个社区后，救援队伍正在搜寻数百名失踪人员。
尼泊尔国家灾害风险减少与管理当局表示，该国此次山洪已造成165人死亡，另有826人失踪。尼泊尔当局已在受灾最严重的努瓦科特县和拉苏瓦县加大救援力度。
中国官方媒体中央广播电视总台（CCTV）另有报道称，西藏地区有558人失踪，其中包括260名外国人，另有2名村民获救。截至周四上午，至少已有3人确认遇难。
尼泊尔旅游委员会首席执行官兼高级总监希克马特·辛格·艾尔周三对哥伦比亚广播公司新闻表示，失踪的外国公民中至少有33名美国人。
2026年8月27日，尼泊尔努瓦科特县比杜尔市德维加特地区，当地居民走过被泥浆淹没的房屋。普拉宾·拉纳巴特 / 法新社/盖蒂图片社
哥伦比亚广播公司新闻记者阿尔沙德·扎加尔报道称，山洪摧毁了村庄，冲毁房屋、道路、桥梁和发电厂。地区新闻机构播出并发布在社交媒体上的视频显示，汹涌的洪水在山谷和山口肆虐，冲垮桥梁和水坝，将建筑物卷走。
周三在尼泊尔拍摄的无人机画面显示，道路被毁，建筑物被颜色如同湿水泥的汹涌洪水掩埋。
该地区陡峭的山谷既是经济命脉也是交通要道，但在灾难发生时却极为脆弱。画面显示，尼泊尔受灾严重的努瓦科特县部分建筑的二楼被泥浆覆盖，泥石流席卷而过。树枝和电线上挂满 debris，车辆被掩埋，一些惊魂未定的幸存者浑身沾满泥浆。洪水导致部分地区交通中断。
几乎没有时间让人们撤离。
“我抵达敦格巴扎时，只用了半小时，洪水就来了，摧毁了整个市场。当时人们正准备去上班，”居民肖亚姆·拉杰班达里说道，“有多少人失踪或遇难，我们一无所知。”
搜救工作加紧进行
周四清晨以来，军方和私人直升机已投入救援行动。尼泊尔军方发言人准将拉贾·拉姆·巴斯内特表示，军方通过直升机行动已从受灾地区救出100多人。
他称，至少有8名外国公民被空运至加德满都，并补充说，军方团队还疏散了被困在特里舒里水电站相关设施内的人员。
救援人员在灾区下游约62英里的奇特万县发现了遗体。数十名伤者已被送往首都加德满都接受高级医疗救治。
在西藏，周三吉隆口岸陆路口岸附近发生的泥石流导致周边地区平均泥浆厚度超过5英尺，部分路段泥浆厚度超过6英尺，中国官方媒体中央广播电视总台周四报道称。通往口岸的道路全部受损，通讯中断。报道补充称，该地区持续小雨，可能引发次生崩塌或滑坡。
2026年8月27日，尼泊尔努瓦科特县比杜尔市德维加特地区，航拍画面显示房屋被泥浆覆盖。普拉宾·拉纳巴特 / 法新社/盖蒂图片社
中央广播电视总台报道称，在口岸方向还发现一处堰塞湖，给救援工作带来挑战。中国当局已派遣大型军用运输机向该地区运送救援队伍。
尼泊尔官员此前表示，已有数百名外国公民失踪，其中包括前往西藏冈仁波齐神山朝圣的印度公民。
美国国务卿马可·鲁比奥在社交媒体帖子中表示，美国与尼泊尔人民站在一起，称国务院“随时准备向尼泊尔政府提供所需的人道主义援助”。
美国驻尼泊尔大使馆在社交媒体帖子中对“在这场毁灭性洪水中失去亲人的家庭和挚爱者表示深切哀悼”。声明称，国务院正在密切监控局势，并将派遣一名顾问前往该地区协助救援工作，同时向天主教救济服务机构提供50万美元拨款。
据法国新闻社法新社报道，佛教精神领袖达赖喇嘛周四表示，他正在为尼泊尔和西藏洪灾中的所有遇难者祈祷。他在一份声明中说：“我为所有逝者祈祷，并向遇难者家属以及所有受这场悲剧影响的人们表示慰问和深切哀悼。”
灾害起因疑为冰川崩塌，而非地震
美国地质调查局周三早些时候首先报道称，加德满都以北约41英里、靠近边境地区发生了4.4级地震。美国地质调查局随后更新分析称，其监测到的地震事件实为5.2级冰川崩塌，崩塌产生的 debris 顺流而下，对沿岸社区造成灾难性影响。该局表示，其结论基于附近地震台站的数据、长周期地震波和卫星图像，并未发生地震。
位于加德满都的国际山地综合发展中心的气候专家表示，冰川崩塌引发的雪崩可能是周三山洪的诱因。
“水文观测显示此次洪峰速度极快、规模巨大，”他们在一份电子邮件声明中表示，并指出特里舒里河某河段的水位在半小时内上涨了多达27英尺。
他们称，博特科西河的支流伦德科拉河出现了最大洪水。
气候变化对该地区威胁加剧
“伦德科拉河在14个月内已发生两次洪水，此次灾害由尼泊尔一侧冰川发生的冰崩引发，该冰崩堵塞河道并突然向下游泄洪，”气候研究组织的灾害风险减少专家萨萨瓦特·萨尼亚尔说道。
他指出了在“变暖的喜马拉雅地区”建立早期预警系统的重要性。
尼泊尔和西藏的这场灾害并非个例。伦德科拉河水系在短短14个月内已两次暴发洪水，日益不稳定的喜马拉雅冰川系统威胁着全球人口最稠密地区之一的社区、基础设施和供水。
去年8月该地区也曾发生类似山洪，当时西藏的一座冰川湖因高温溃决，造成9人死亡，连接尼泊尔和中国的桥梁等关键基础设施受损。
喜马拉雅山脉横跨南亚多个国家，拥有众多世界最高峰和残存冰川。
喜马拉雅山脉陡峭的山坡和下方郁郁葱葱的山谷尤其容易遭受洪水和滑坡灾害，而由于人为气候变化导致的变暖，极端天气事件如强季风和冰川融化已变得愈发常见。
加德满都的研究人员今年早些时候发现，兴都库什-喜马拉雅地区的冰川融化速度加快，自2000年以来冰损失率翻了一番。
冰川融化带来的威胁已成为全球关注的焦点。
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/rescue-efforts-underway-nepal-devastating-mudslides-flash-flooding/
Hundreds missing, scores dead along Nepal, Tibet border following disastrous flash flooding and mud flow
August 27, 2026 / 3:23 AM EDT / CBS/AP
Rescue teams were searching for hundreds of missing people along the Nepal-China border Thursday after a catastrophic and deadly torrent of floods and mud swept through several communities a day earlier following a glacial collapse.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority in Nepal said 826 people were missing and the death toll from the country’s flash floods rose to 165 on Thursday. Nepalese authorities ramped up operations in the worst-affected districts of Nuwakot and Rasuwa.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV separately reported that 558 people were missing in Tibet — 260 of them foreigners — and two villagers were rescued. At least three people were reported killed as of Thursday morning, it said.
Hikmat Singh Ayer, CEO and senior director of Nepal’s Tourism Board, told CBS News Wednesday there were at least 33 Americans among the missing foreign nationals.
Local residents walk past houses lying deluged in mud after flash floods at Devighat, Bidur Municipality in Nepal’s Nuwakot district on Aug. 27, 2026. Prabin RANABHAT / AFP via Getty Images
Flash floods decimated villages, slamming into houses, roads, bridges and power plants, CBS News’ Arshad Zargar reported. Videos broadcast by regional news outlets and posted on social media show violent torrents of water surging through valleys and mountain passes, tearing down bridges and dams and sweeping away buildings.
Drone footage in Nepal on Wednesday showed roads destroyed and buildings buried by thundering water the color of wet cement.
The region’s steep valleys are economic lifelines and travel corridors but are precarious when disaster strikes. Images showed what appeared to be the second floors of buildings in Nepal’s hard-hit Nuwakot district slathered in mud after the torrent rushed by. Debris hung from tree branches and wires, vehicles were buried and some stunned survivors were caked in mud. The floods halted travel in some areas.
There was little time for anyone to flee.
“When I reached Dhunge bazaar, in half an hour, the flood came and damaged all the market. People were preparing to go to office then,” resident Shoyam Rajbhandari said. “How many people are missing or dead, we don’t know.”
Search and rescue efforts intensify
Since early morning, army and private helicopters have been deployed. The Nepalese army rescued more than 100 people from flood-affected areas through helicopter operations Thursday, army spokesperson Brigadier General Raja Ram Basnet said.
At least eight foreign nationals were airlifted to Kathmandu, he said, adding that army teams also evacuated people trapped inside facilities linked to the Trishuli hydropower project.
Rescuers found bodies about 62 miles downstream from the disaster zone in Chitwan district. Dozens of injured people have been transported to the country’s capital, Kathmandu, for advanced medical care.
In Tibet, a mudslide that struck near the land border crossing of Gyirong Port on Wednesday left mud in the surrounding areas more than five feet deep on average, with some road sections exceeding six feet, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported Thursday. Roads leading to the port were all damaged, while communication was cut off, it said. With light rain continuing in the area, secondary collapses or landslides may occur, it added.
An aerial view shows houses covered in mud after flash floods at Devighat, Bidur Municipality in Nepal’s Nuwakot district on Aug. 27, 2026. Prabin RANABHAT / AFP via Getty Images
CCTV said a barrier lake has also been discovered in the direction of the port, posing challenges to the rescue operation. Chinese authorities deployed a large military transport aircraft to send a team to the region, it said.
Officials in Nepal had earlier said hundreds of foreigners were reported missing, including Indian nationals on pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet, a sacred site for Hindus.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed U.S. solidarity with the Nepali people, saying in a social media post that his department “stands ready to support the government of Nepal with needed humanitarian assistance.”
In a social media post, the U.S. Embassy in Nepal expressed its “heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives in the devastating floods.” It said the State Department is closely monitoring the situation and sending an adviser to the region to help with response efforts as well as a $500,000 grant to Catholic Relief Services.
Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama said Thursday that he was praying for all those killed in devastating floods in Nepal and Tibet, French news agency AFP reported. “I pray for all those who have lost their lives, and offer my sympathy and heartfelt condolences to the bereaved and to all those affected by this tragedy,” he said in a statement.
Glacier collapse, not earthquake, seen as catastrophe’s cause
The U.S. Geological Survey first reported a magnitude 4.4 earthquake early Wednesday, about 41 miles north of Kathmandu, near the border. The USGS later updated its analysis to say the seismic event it measured was a magnitude 5.2 glacial collapse that sent debris flowing downstream with catastrophic impact on communities. It said its determination was based on data from nearby seismic stations, long period seismic waves and satellite imagery, and that no earthquake had occurred.
Climate experts at the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development said an avalanche from a glacier likely caused Wednesday’s flash flood.
“Hydrological observations indicate the exceptional speed and magnitude of the flood wave,” they said in an emailed statement, noting that water levels at one point on the Trishuli river rose by as much as 27 feet over half an hour.
The Lhende Khola River, a tributary of the Bhotekoshi, had maximum flooding, they said.
Climate change’s threat to region increasing
“The Lhende Khola has flooded twice in 14 months, this time triggered by an ice rock avalanche from a glacier on the Nepal side that blocked the river and released a sudden surge downstream,” said Saswata Sanyal, a disaster risk reduction specialist at the climate research group.
He noted the importance of early warnings in “a warming Himalaya.”
The disaster in Nepal and Tibet is not a one-off. The Lhende Khola river system has now flooded twice in just 14 months and the increasingly unstable Himalayan ice system threatens communities, infrastructure and water supplies across one of the world’s most densely populated regions.
It saw similar flash floods in August last year, when a glacial lake in Tibet overflowed because of high temperatures. Nine people were killed, and critical infrastructure, including a bridge connecting Nepal and China, was damaged.
The Himalayan mountain range spans several countries in South Asia and has many of the world’s highest peaks and remaining glaciers.
The steep slopes and the lush valleys below the Himalayan mountain range are especially vulnerable to flooding and landslides, and extreme weather events like intense monsoons and melting glaciers have become more common because of warming due to human-caused climate change.
Researchers in Kathmandu found earlier this year that glaciers across the Hindu Kush Himalaya region are melting faster, with ice loss rates doubling since 2000.
The threat from melting glaciers has become a global concern.
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/rescue-efforts-underway-nepal-devastating-mudslides-flash-flooding/