Nepal's Annapurna Trekking Routes Hit by Fresh Landslides as Death Toll Rises and Hundreds Are Airlifted to Safety

A fresh wave of landslides and torrential rain has killed approximately 30 people across Nepal, compounding a humanitarian crisis in the Himalayan nation still reeling from catastrophic flooding in August that claimed 1,400 lives and left thousands more unaccounted for. According to the country's national disaster management authority, more than 1,900 families have been affected since late last week, with over 240 homes damaged or destroyed. Roads, buildings and bridges have been swept away by the relentless onslaught of extreme weather, leaving entire communities cut off and desperate for assistance.

The Annapurna Circuit, one of Nepal's most iconic and economically vital trekking routes, has been thrown into disarray. Hundreds of trekkers have been forced to abandon their hikes and seek safety, with many airlifted by helicopter from the districts of Manang and Mustang. The full circuit typically takes up to three weeks to complete, but the damage inflicted by landslides and flooding has made large sections impassable. Trekking authorities estimate that around 700 would-be trekkers remain stranded in Pokhara, unable to begin their journeys, while pressure mounts from the trekking industry to reopen the route.

In the town of Battar, north-west of Kathmandu, displaced residents are grappling with the loss of their homes and loved ones. Buti Tamang, speaking from a damp blue tent that has become her temporary shelter, described the devastation to BBC Nepali: "We used to live in a hut, but now there is nothing. We have lost so many of our relatives." Ramesh Ghale, who also fled his home, added: "Now it is raining and the tent leaks, so we've been facing a difficult situation. We have nowhere to go." The scenes in Battar reflect a wider pattern of displacement across the region, as families who survived the August floods now face yet another round of destruction with little time to recover.

For those caught on the mountains, the descent has been perilous. Several trekkers and their guides have described harrowing journeys lasting three or four days, requiring them to navigate collapsed roads and cross rivers where bridges once stood. Jake Stacy, a 21-year-old from Suffolk in the United Kingdom, found himself stranded with his guide in Yak Kharka, in upper Manang, after heavy snowfall struck last week. He made the difficult decision not to continue toward the Thorang La pass, the highest point on the circuit, and instead focused on getting back to safety.

"We made our own paths on mountain slopes," Stacy recounted after finally returning to base camp in Pokhara on Tuesday night. "It was quite steep and we were clambering because there was river below… It was very muddy and very wet." He confirmed that many other trekkers had to be helicoptered out, underscoring the scale of the rescue operation underway in the remote Himalayan region.

Australian trekker Andrew Graham and his guide Prem KC faced a similarly gruelling ordeal after deciding to turn back from Manang village. The pair crossed more than 15 landslides during their descent, with Graham noting that "a few of them were quite dangerous" and that "the residual risks have grown now." Their journey became even more complicated when they reached the village of Chame, which had been evacuated because of the threat of further landslides. Unable to find shelter, they were forced to spend a night in the jungle before continuing their escape.

A massive landslide has partially blocked a river flowing through Chame, creating a temporary lake that has inundated houses and a key bridge. Local authorities have been attempting to release the trapped water using excavators for the past three days, but residents told the BBC that their efforts have met with limited success. The situation illustrates the cascading nature of Nepal's disaster risk, where one landslide can trigger flooding that devastates communities far downstream, multiplying the damage and complicating relief efforts.

Trekking guide Tse Ring Doma, who led a group through the chaos, said she and her clients had to cross 28 separate landslides. She described the mental toll as more punishing than the physical challenge, particularly given the fresh trauma of last month's enormous disaster. "Even thunder would make us run and come out to see if anything was coming our way," she said, capturing the heightened state of alert that has become a daily reality for those living and working in the region.

Her client, Norwegian trekker Ellen Wahlström, offered a perspective on the disparity between visitors and locals. She observed that tourists were relatively fortunate, as they would only have to leave behind some of their belongings, while residents risked losing their homes and land entirely. She also praised the authorities for clearing many of the landslides "surprisingly fast," acknowledging the difficult conditions under which recovery crews were operating.

While the damage to roads in Manang has been severe, with several bridges washed away and communications down in some areas, chief district officer Mukti Prasad Khanal confirmed that no one had been killed in the trekking region itself. However, a separate avalanche near the base of Himlung Peak, close to the border with Tibet, has claimed at least four lives, with 12 people still missing. The avalanche adds a further dimension to the emergency, highlighting the diverse hazards facing Nepal's mountainous terrain as weather patterns grow increasingly unpredictable.

A representative of the Annapurna Conservation Area Project, the local trekking authority, said approximately 700 trekkers were still waiting in Pokhara to embark on the Annapurna Circuit. "We have been holding back all these people who want to go to the Annapurna Circuit trek, although we are under pressure from the trekking industry to announce the route open," he said. The authority has also advised Indian pilgrims travelling to the ancient temple of Muktinath to fly from Jomsom to Pokhara rather than attempt the overland route, which has been severed by landslide damage.

The closure of the Annapurna Circuit carries significant economic implications for Nepal, where trekking tourism is a vital source of revenue and employment. The autumn season is typically one of the busiest for Himalayan trekking, and the inability to open the route has left porters, guides, teahouse owners and transport operators without income at a time when many were already struggling in the wake of August's floods. The pressure to reopen the trail must be balanced against the very real dangers posed by unstable slopes and damaged infrastructure.

The latest disasters have also revived painful memories of August's catastrophic flooding, which killed 1,400 people and left thousands missing. That event was one of the deadliest natural disasters in Nepal's recent history, and the fact that another wave of destruction has arrived so soon has stretched the country's emergency response capacity to its limits. Humanitarian agencies warn that recovery efforts are being overwhelmed by the sheer scale and frequency of the crises.

Scientists and environmental experts have long warned that Nepal is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, with melting glaciers, shifting monsoon patterns and increasingly erratic weather intensifying the risks of landslides, floods and avalanches. The back-to-back disasters of August and the current wave serve as stark evidence of that vulnerability, and they raise urgent questions about how the Himalayan nation can adapt its infrastructure and disaster preparedness to a future in which extreme events are expected to become more frequent and more severe.