Torrential downpours and raging floodwaters swept away a two-storey government ward building into the Daram River in western Nepal on September 27, 2026. The collapse occurred in Galkot Municipality amid a severe nationwide weather crisis that has killed dozens of people and displaced numerous families across multiple districts.
Landslide and River Erosion Devastate Galkot Municipality
Days of relentless rainfall triggered a destructive landslide in the Baglung district, plunging a municipal ward office building straight into the Daram River. Witness footage captured the hillside giving way as debris rushed downhill, leaving the two-storey council structure teetering on an unstable ledge before it vanished entirely beneath the surging water. Local authorities managed to avert direct casualties at the site by clearing out important documents and computers prior to the final collapse, a detail confirmed to the BBC by local ward chair Tej Thapa.
The dramatic scenes in Baskhola, located within Galkot Municipality-9, marked one of the most visible structural failures during a wider spell of severe weather across the region. Swollen rivers and tributaries continue to threaten communities, prompting officials to issue warnings for potential flash floods across 49 of Nepal’s 77 districts.
Casualties Mount Across Baglung and Surrounding Districts
While no one was hurt in the municipal office collapse, the broader disaster across the district and country has proved deadly. Local authorities confirmed that at least 10 people died and one person remained missing in Baglung alone after landslides swept away homes and buried residents over the weekend.
Superintendent of police Phanindra Prasai, chief of the district police office in Baglung, reported that four deaths and one missing case occurred in Tamankhola Rural Municipality, while five people died in Nisikhola Rural Municipality. Across the entire country, Nepal’s national disaster agency states that landslides and floods have killed at least 27 people over recent days, while Yahoo News reports that at least 14 people died and 11 went missing between September 24 and 28.
National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority Tallies the Damage
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) recorded at least 21 deaths, five missing persons, and five injuries from a four-day window of continuous heavy rain, floods, and landslides between September 24 and 27. Meanwhile, Need To Know reports a national death toll of at least 24 people with another 14 missing, while other independent tallies reach as high as 27 victims as rescue teams work to reach isolated areas.
Landslides account for the vast majority of the destruction, causing 14 deaths and all five missing persons under the NDRRMA count, while floods claimed four lives and heavy rainfall directly caused three. The ongoing weather crisis has also severely disrupted power supplies, damaged hydropower projects, and harmed transmission towers across multiple regions.
Emergency Deployments and the Shadow of August Catastrophes
Rescue and relief operations remain active in the hardest-hit zones, supported by security personnel and a Nepali army helicopter deployed to assist with relief efforts and transport stranded residents. Authorities have urged anyone living in vulnerable terrain to stay on high alert as torrential downpours persist.
This latest disaster compounds a punishing monsoon season for Nepal, which follows a flash flood along the Nepal-Tibet border that killed 1,400 people and left thousands more missing, while Yahoo News notes the region was devastated by catastrophic floods in August.