The landslide hit Chumnubri village in Gorkha district, blocking the Budhi Gandaki River and causing downstream flooding. Videos on social media show houses and sheds being swept away by the swollen river flowing between mountains. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The district's most senior bureaucrat, Dharmendra Kumar Mishra, said about a dozen houses and two suspension bridges had been washed away, and a hydro-electric project camp was damaged. "We have asked villagers living along the river banks downstream to evacuate and remain safe," he said.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said the flooded river was rising and had washed away a highway bridge connecting two districts. The army rescued six people from Jagat who were facing the risk of a landslide, Prime Minister Balendra Shah said in a social media post. Another 18 workers at the hydro-electric project escaped to safety, said Dharam Raj Uprety, chief of the authority.
The authority alerted people living along the river in the Gorkha, Tanahun, Chitwan, East Nawalparasi and West Nawalparasi districts. "Please help ensure that people in at-risk areas are moved to safe locations in time and assist search and rescue operations as needed," the authority said in a social media post. Army and police rescue personnel have reached the area and are also monitoring the situation from a helicopter.
The Budhi Gandaki merges into the Trishuli River, where a glacier collapse caused a catastrophic flood in August that killed 1,457 people, with thousands still missing.