Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday that it had received no reports of casualties or injuries involving Sri Lankan nationals following the flash floods that devastated Nepal’s Rasuwa District.

Ministry Spokesman Thushara Rodrigo said the Sri Lankan Embassy in Nepal was expected to provide further information on the safety of Sri Lankan nationals as details emerged, Ada Derana reported. Hiru News carried the same position, saying no Sri Lankans had been reported among those affected by the floods and landslides.

Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Kathmandu later put the number of Sri Lankan nationals currently in Nepal at an estimated 85 to 100, including around 20 students who had arrived recently. Others are working with international organisations in the country.

What happened

The flood struck the Bhote Koshi River, which runs down from Tibet into Rasuwa on Nepal’s northern border. Ada Derana’s initial report described flood waves of eight to ten metres set off by an upstream avalanche and glacier outburst on the Tibetan side.

That account was revised during the day. Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal told parliament that preliminary information indicated an earthquake struck the area at about 08:37 local time and triggered the avalanche, which in turn caused the flooding. He said teams were still verifying that sequence, and that China was also reporting heavy damage.

Border security posts at Timure and Rasuwagadhi were destroyed, with security personnel among the missing. A joint operation involving the Nepal Army, Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force is under way.

The reported death toll climbed sharply through Wednesday. Ada Derana’s filings moved from 17 dead to 31 and then to 95, with Hiru reporting 98 by late evening. Nepal’s Tourism Board identified 384 travellers as missing from the affected area — 291 foreign nationals and 93 Nepalese — a figure Nepali police later revised upward.

Herath’s message

Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said in a post on X that he was deeply saddened by the disaster.

“My thoughts are with all those affected, and especially with the families and communities enduring this difficult time. I commend the efforts of the Nepalese authorities and all personnel engaged in relief and rescue operations,” he said, according to Daily Mirror.

He added that Sri Lanka stood in full solidarity with the government and people of Nepal.

None of the three reports said whether Colombo had offered material assistance, or whether the Embassy had completed contact with all Sri Lankan nationals in the affected districts.

Update: missing count rises to 579

Nepali police put the number of missing tourists at 579 late on Wednesday, Ada Derana reported — a sharp increase on the Tourism Board’s earlier figure of 384.

Of those, 113 are Nepalese, 54 are United States nationals and 33 are British. The Nepalese share of the missing has risen from 93 to 113 since the Tourism Board’s count, which implies the number of foreign nationals unaccounted for has climbed from 291 to roughly 466.

The three nationalities named account for 200 of the 579. Nepali police have not published a full country breakdown.

Update: the regional picture

Indian and Chinese dimensions of the disaster came into view during the day. The Daily Mirror, carrying India Today copy, reported at least 133 Indians among those unaccounted for, against a missing count of “over 400” and at least 95 confirmed deaths — figures from an earlier point in the day than the police tally above.

The surge entered the Bhote Koshi from the Tibetan side at about 9 a.m., severely affecting Timure and Syapru Besi. Bihar, which borders Nepal, raised an alert as floodwaters moved downstream, with the Uttar Pradesh border also placed on watch.

A mudslide struck Tibet near the Gyirong border crossing, causing casualties and leaving people missing, China’s state news agency Xinhua reported. Chinese President Xi Jinping called for an all-out search for the missing in Tibet and for stronger monitoring and early-warning systems against secondary disasters.

The report also carries independent support for the account Nepal’s foreign minister gave parliament. The German Research Centre for Geosciences recorded a 4.4-magnitude earthquake about seven minutes before the timestamp on security footage from the Chinese side of the border, which shows people fleeing ahead of a torrent of rock, mud and water. That sequence — quake, then slope failure, then flood — matches what Shishir Khanal described as preliminary information still being verified.

Rescue work remains constrained by terrain. Helicopters have been unable to land in areas where floodwater levels are high.

Update: Colombo offers assistance, toll reaches 162

The open question above — whether Colombo had offered material help — was answered on Thursday. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said Sri Lanka stood ready to assist with rescue and clearance operations, and Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath spoke by telephone with his Nepalese counterpart, agreeing that Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Centres would coordinate with Nepalese authorities on what was needed.

The Sri Lankan Embassy in Kathmandu has since issued a safety advisory to nationals in five districts and along the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river corridors, with a 24-hour emergency hotline.

Nepali police put the death toll at 162 on Thursday morning. Full coverage: Sri Lanka offers Nepal disaster assistance as flood toll reaches 162.

Update: August 27 — no Sri Lankans on the official missing list

Colombo’s assessment has now been confirmed from the Nepalese side. The Nepal Tourism Board’s published list of people out of contact after the disaster names no Sri Lankan nationals.

The list runs to 644 people: 517 foreign nationals drawn from 32 countries and 127 Nepalese. Indians account for the largest group at 178, ahead of 65 Americans, 53 Ukrainians, 51 Malaysians, 35 Australians, 33 Britons and 25 Canadians, with the remaining countries contributing nine or fewer each.

The broader tally of missing in Nepal has since risen to 826, and Nepal police reported 270 bodies recovered by Thursday. Full coverage: Nepal flood toll passes 270 as US scientists rule out earthquake, blame glacial collapse.

Sources