Hundreds of tourists remain unaccounted for.
More than 500 tourists remain unaccounted for, including nationals from South Africa. Picture: AFP/Prabin Ranbhat.
The number of South Africans reported missing following the deadly floods in Nepal has risen to six.
Nepal’s tourism board shared the details on Thursday, 27 August 2026, as the death toll on both sides of the Nepal-Tibet border climbed past 165.
Floods
Entire villages were swept away, buses and cars destroyed, and trekking routes near Syabrubesi – a gateway to Mount Kailash pilgrimages – were cut off.
Hundreds of tourists remain unaccounted for, including nationals from South Africa, Australia, Britain, India, Malaysia, Portugal, South Korea, and the United States.
The tourism board put the number of missing foreigners at 517, while 127 Nepalese were also reported missing.
Gift of the Givers
Earlier, humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman confirmed that his team was contacted by the daughter of a missing South African couple, who asked for assistance.
“The tour operator confirmed a second South African couple and several international tourists are missing and that thousands of homes, shopping malls and businesses have been washed away,” Sooliman said.
He explained the scale of the disaster
“Helicopter surveillance is the only means of access as all roads have been destroyed. Landing is not possible as there is no solid ground given the height of the water level. Furthermore, there is a huge danger that a dam may collapse as a secondary impact, putting teams at enormous risk.”
Search and rescue
Gift of the Givers has eleven urban search-and-rescue specialists, four Saps dog handlers and four dogs on standby.
“We are in touch with Nepalese authorities. The embassy is prepared to process visas immediately, but we await a formal call for international assistance,” Sooliman added.
He confirmed that Ahmed Bham, head of search and rescue, is in communication with Nepalese Disaster Management officials, with operations to be coordinated from Kathmandu if deployment is authorised.
*This is a developing story.
