Himalayan Landslide Buries Himlung Work Camp, Four Dead, Twelve Missing, Villagers Flee Uphill Trail

Himlung, Nepal— A landslide slammed into a remote Himalayan village in Himlung on October 31, 2026, killing four workers and leaving 12 others missing under a wall of mud, rock and snow.

The slide came down around 7:30 a.m. from a ridge above the village, which sits at about 4,000 meters in Manang District. The settlement is mostly seasonal. A crew was building a trail shelter and a small hydropower intake. Their tin-roof dormitory sat directly below the slope. It took a direct hit.

District police said four bodies were pulled out by midday. All were Nepali men aged between 20 and 40, hired for the construction season. Twelve others were still buried. The crew list was handwritten. Officials were not sure if anyone else was on site. Families called from Pokhara and Kathmandu asking for names.

The slope had been soaked for days. Villagers said it rained hard for two nights, then snow fell. Water pooled behind cracked rock. A shepherd heard a low rumble before dawn. He thought it was an avalanche. When he looked up, the whole hillside was moving.

Rescue was slow. There is no road to Himlung. The nearest jeep track ends a day’s walk away. A Nepal Army helicopter tried to reach the site at 10 a.m. but turned back. Cloud ceiling was too low. A second team walked in from Phu with shovels, ropes and two police dogs.

Those who survived dug with bare hands. One worker was pulled out alive with a broken leg. He said he was asleep when the wall collapsed. He woke up in darkness, chest pinned, unable to breathe. He shouted until his co-workers found him.

Officials in Manang said satellite phones were the only link. The village has no cell coverage. A brief message said food was short and temperatures were dropping. The district administration requested a larger helicopter team from Pokhara for tomorrow if weather clears.

The Department of Mines and Geology said this belt is highly prone to slides. Glacial retreat loosens the rock. Unplanned cutting for trails and hydropower makes it worse. Permits are issued in Kathmandu. No one checks the slope.

By nightfall the search was halted. Floodlights could not be flown in. The missing were still under debris. Villagers lit fires on the ridge and waited.