Nepal hit by deadly landslides as trekkers evacuated from Annapurna Circuit

Nepal is still counting the dead from August's floods—1,400 confirmed, thousands more missing—when another disaster arrives. Late last week, landslides and heavy rain killed roughly 30 more people across the country. The national disaster management authority reported that more than 1,900 families have been displaced, with over 240 homes destroyed. Roads buckled. Bridges vanished into swollen rivers. Buildings collapsed. The Himalayan nation, already reeling, braced for worse.

The Annapurna Circuit, a three-week trekking route that winds through the mountains and feeds directly into Nepal's economy, became a trap. Hundreds of hikers found themselves stranded as the main paths washed away. Helicopters began ferrying them out of the districts of Manang and Mustang, plucking trekkers from high altitude and delivering them to safety below. Jake Stacy, a 21-year-old from Suffolk, was caught in Yak Kharka when heavy snowfall blocked the route forward. He and his guide abandoned the attempt to reach Thorang La, the circuit's highest point, and instead carved their own way down the mountainside. "We made our own paths on mountain slopes," Stacy said after reaching 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."

Others faced worse. Australian Andrew Graham and his guide Prem KC crossed more than 15 landslides on their descent from Manang village. Some were treacherous enough that they decided to spend a night in the jungle rather than risk the unstable terrain around Chame, a village that had been evacuated. A massive landslide had partially dammed a river there, creating a temporary lake that swallowed houses and a critical bridge. For three days, authorities tried using excavators to release the trapped water with little success. Trekking guide Tse Ring Doma led her group across 28 separate landslides. The physical ordeal was grueling, but the psychological weight was heavier. "Even thunder would make us run and come out to see if anything was coming our way," she said, the memory of August's catastrophe still fresh.

The human toll on the ground was starker than anything the trekkers experienced. Buti Tamang, speaking from a damp blue tent in Battar, northwest of Kathmandu, described losing everything. "We used to live in a hut, but now there is nothing. We have lost so many of our relatives." Ramesh Ghale, who had also fled his home, sat in a leaking tent with nowhere else to go. "Now it is raining and the tent leaks, so we've been facing a difficult situation," he said. Four bodies were recovered and 12 people remain missing after an avalanche near Himlung Peak, close to the Tibetan border.

No deaths were reported among trekkers in the hiking region itself, according to Mukti Prasad Khanal, the chief district officer. But the circuit remains closed to new arrivals. About 700 trekkers are waiting in Pokhara, eager to begin their journeys. The Annapurna Conservation Area Project, which manages the route, is under pressure from the trekking industry to reopen, but officials are holding firm. "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," a representative said. Indian pilgrims heading to the ancient temple at Muktinath have been rerouted to fly from Jomson to Pokhara instead of driving, their usual route cut off.

Trekkers and guides have begun using old, abandoned trails that fell into disuse after roads were built through Manang and Mustang in recent years. Those forgotten paths are now lifelines, the only way down when the modern infrastructure has been swept away. The circuit that usually takes three weeks to complete has become a test of survival, and the mountains that draw visitors from around the world have turned hostile. Authorities are assessing conditions carefully, but the rain continues, and the ground remains unstable.