Devastating floods that tore through the remote Nepal-China border crossing on 26 August have left widespread destruction and hundreds of people unaccounted for, with authorities now piecing together who was actually present when the disaster struck. The crossing, linking Kathmandu and Tibet via the Friendship Bridge at Rasuwagadhi in Nepal and Gyirong on the Chinese side, is a historically busy route used by pilgrims, traders and tourists, and was described by a hydrologist as geologically vulnerable to sudden torrents of water, mud, boulders and ice.

CCTV footage captured the flood surging through Gyirong at 10:59:53 local time, while Nepal's immigration system logged its final border crossing just minutes earlier, at 8:35am local time. Records show 89 people had cleared Nepali immigration to leave for Tibet that morning, including 32 Indians, 12 Chinese nationals, nine Americans and citizens of Britain, Canada, Australia and Italy, but officials say hundreds more may have been waiting in the area, which was reportedly unusually busy. At least 275 Indians remain missing in Nepal, four immigration staff at Rasuwagadhi are among the missing or dead, and both the Friendship Bridge and surrounding buildings, including the trading settlement of Timure, were swept away.