August 26, 2026. The Himalayas looked completely calm. No rain. No warning.
At 8:37 a.m., ice and rock broke from the north flank of Langtang Lirung, inside Langtang National Park, and fell more than a kilometre into the Lhende Khola. The impact was so violent that seismic instruments registered it thousands of kilometres away. For hours it was logged as an earthquake. It was the mountain itself.
Debris slammed into the river, blocked the flow, and became a wall of ice, mud, boulders and water. It reached the Nepal–Tibet border at Rasuwagadhi in minutes, then tore down the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli, destroying roads, bridges, the border crossing and hydropower infrastructure. More than 1,400 people were killed in Nepal and Tibet. Thousands are still missing, including pilgrims, traders, hydropower workers and travellers.
Scientists say the threat was not a storm. It was a rock-ice collapse. And they say it can happen again.
In memory of those lost.
Sources: USGS / ICIMOD assessments, Copernicus EMS, ExplorersWeb, Wikipedia situation summaries.
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