Nepal floods: Landslide blocks Budhi Gandaki River, videos show floodwaters sweeping away homes and bridges

Nepal authorities have ordered people living along the Budhi Gandaki River to evacuate after a landslide blocked the river in Gorkha district, causing floodwaters to surge downstream and sweep away houses, bridges and other infrastructure, Reuters reported.

No casualties have been reported so far.

The incident occurred in Chumnubri village, about 100 km (62 miles) west of Kathmandu, where a dry landslide blocked the Budhi Gandaki River. The river later flooded downstream areas, officials said.

“We have asked villagers living along the river banks downstream to evacuate and remain safe,” Dharmendra Kumar Mishra, the Gorkha district's most senior bureaucrat told Reuters.

The flooding has already caused significant damage. About a dozen houses and two suspension bridges were swept away, while a camp belonging to a hydroelectric project was damaged, Mishra said.

Videos circulating on social media showed muddy floodwaters rushing through the mountainous area, with houses and other structures being swept away by the swollen river. Local reports also showed residents fleeing riverside settlements as the water level rose.

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The river, carrying muddy sludge, continued to rise and washed away a highway bridge connecting Gorkha with neighbouring Dhading district, said Dharam Raj Uprety, chief of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.

The army rescued six people from Jagat who were facing the risk of a landslide, Prime Minister Balendra Shah said in a social media post. Another 18 workers from the affected hydroelectric project camp escaped safely, Uprety said.

Authorities have warned people living along the river in Gorkha, Tanahun, Chitwan, East Nawalparasi and West Nawalparasi districts to remain alert and move to safer locations.

“Please help ensure that people in at-risk areas are moved to safe locations in time and assist search and rescue operations as needed,” the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said in a social media post.

Army and police rescue teams have reached the affected area and were monitoring the situation from a helicopter, officials said.

The Budhi Gandaki is a tributary of the Trishuli River. In August, a glacier collapse in another tributary downstream triggered a catastrophic flood that killed 1,457 people, with thousands still missing