Nepal Landslides Kill About 30, Trekkers Airlifted From Annapurna Circuit as Avalanche Hits Himlung Base Camp

Since August's glacier collapse and flooding on the Nepal-China border killed roughly 1,400 people and left thousands missing, Nepal has been hit by a second disaster. A new wave of landslides and heavy rain has killed about 30 people since late last week, according to the BBC, citing Nepal's National Disaster Management Authority.

The authority says more than 1,900 families have been affected and over 240 homes damaged. Roads, bridges and buildings have been swept away across multiple districts.

Trekkers Airlifted Off the Annapurna Circuit

Hundreds of hikers on the Annapurna Circuit, one of Nepal's biggest tourism draws, have cut their trips short. Many have been helicoptered out of the Manang and Mustang districts, according to the BBC and the International Business Times UK.

Jake Stacy, a 21-year-old trekker from Suffolk, told the BBC he and his guide got stranded in Yak Kharka after heavy snowfall and had to carve their own path across steep, muddy slopes above a river to reach safety. Australian trekker Andrew Graham and his guide, Prem KC, said they crossed more than 15 landslides and spent a night in the jungle after the village of Chame was evacuated.

Trekking guide Tse Ring Doma said her group crossed 28 landslides on the way out, and that the psychological toll outweighed the physical one. "Even thunder would make us run and come out to see if anything was coming our way," she told the BBC, a reaction she linked directly to memories of August's disaster.

A large landslide near Chame has partially dammed a river, creating a temporary lake that has flooded homes and a key bridge. Local residents have spent three days trying to drain it with excavators without much success, the BBC reported.

Manang's chief district officer, Mukti Prasad Khanal, said no one has died within the trekking region itself, though several bridges are gone and communications are down in parts of the district, according to the International Business Times UK.

Avalanche Hits Expedition Base Camp Near Tibet Border

Separately, an avalanche struck the Himlung Himal base camp in central Nepal, where Sherpas and kitchen staff were setting up for an expedition group from the United Arab Emirates due to arrive October 1, according to CNN. Four bodies have been recovered and 12 people remain missing, a toll confirmed by the International Business Times UK and Nigeria Info FM.

Barun Bhandari, general manager of Himalayan Holidays, the company running the expedition, told CNN the scale of it caught his team off guard. "This is the first time we have had an avalanche like this in this exact area," he said. "The ground is very flat at the base camp so we are quite surprised."

CNN's reporting put the broader flooding death toll at 21 with five missing at the time it published, and cited the August disaster's toll as roughly 1,300 dead and more than 5,000 missing, figures that run lower than the roughly 1,400 dead and 30 newly killed cited in the more recent BBC, Saudi Gazette and Nigeria Info FM accounts. This gap reflects an evolving count as search operations continue, not a factual contradiction between outlets.

Tourism Industry Pressing to Reopen the Route

About 700 trekkers are waiting in Pokhara for permission to start the Annapurna Circuit, according to piqmarkets and Nigeria Info FM, with the trekking industry pushing authorities to reopen the route despite the damage. The National Trust for Nature Conservation had already suspended entry permits to the Annapurna and Manaslu conservation areas from September 24 to 26 because of heavy rainfall, CNN reported.

Indian pilgrims headed to the Muktinath temple are being told to fly from Jomson to Pokhara instead of driving because of road closures, according to piqmarkets.

Nepal's economy depends heavily on tourism traffic, and Nepali officials have been actively urging international visitors not to cancel trips despite the back-to-back disasters, per CNN. This presents a real tradeoff for a country where tourism is a major income source, even as rescue crews are still pulling bodies out of the mountains.

Search operations for the 12 missing near Himlung Peak are ongoing, and Nepali authorities have warned of possible flash floods in 49 of the country's 77 districts as river levels keep rising, according to Reuters figures cited by CNN. Whether the Annapurna Circuit reopens to the roughly 700 trekkers stuck in Pokhara now depends on how fast crews can clear the roads buried under this second wave of landslides.