Nepali authorities warned on Friday of a new wave of flooding along the border with Tibet after receiving notice that a dam had collapsed and a lake had overflowed on the Tibetan side, as river levels rose, urging residents and rescue teams in threatened areas to move to safety.
Narendra Pariyar, the top administrative official in Nepal’s Rasuwa district, told Reuters that authorities had received notice that the lake had overflowed. He added that the river level was rising, but said the extent of the increase was not yet clear.
The priority is to save lives, find the missing, treat the injured and provide relief to affected families.
469 dead and about 1,000 missing
The warning came two days after an ice mass collapsed, unleashing torrents of water, rocks, ice and mud through the Himalayan river network. The death toll rose to 469, while about 1,000 people remain missing in Nepal and neighbouring Tibet, including at least 540 foreigners, according to Reuters.
The floods swept through villages and valleys, destroying power stations, roads and bridges along the route linking Kathmandu with Tibet’s Lhasa. Emergency teams are using heavy machinery and trained dogs in search operations, while Nepali authorities have deployed helicopters to reach isolated areas and deliver emergency aid to thousands of people stranded there.
Fears of natural barriers collapsing
Nepal’s disaster management authority warned that the level of a lake formed after debris blocked the Bhotekoshi River was rising, amid fears that the natural barrier could collapse and release large volumes of water.
On the Chinese side, state media, citing the Ministry of Water Resources, said about 3 million cubic metres of water could reach another lake trapped behind the debris within three days. It added that the risk of the barrier collapsing was high, with the water flow expected to peak around September 1.
China sent an engineering team of eight experts to conduct aerial surveys and prepare three-dimensional models of the lake and barrier. The team is considering digging a channel to drain water from a low point in the barrier, but the steep terrain is hampering access to the site, while the channel’s dimensions require calculations linked to the rate at which the lake fills and the flow of water.
Access to the worst-affected area remains blocked
In Tibet’s Gyirong County, Chinese television reported that 558 people remained missing, including 260 foreigners, while three deaths had been confirmed on the Chinese side. Rescue teams are still trying to reach the worst-affected border area after debris blocked the main road leading to it.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington had offered support to Nepal and was ready to send the aid its authorities needed. Nepali Prime Minister Balendra Shah, for his part, said the priority was to save lives, find the missing, treat the injured and provide relief to affected families.
