SRINAGAR: The death toll from flash floods and landslides along Nepal’s border with Tibet has risen to 469, Nepal Police said on Friday, as rescue teams continued searching for people reported missing after torrents of water, mud and debris swept through the region earlier this week.
The disaster struck the mountainous border area on Wednesday, devastating parts of northern Nepal and neighbouring Tibet. Security forces have been using helicopters and other resources to evacuate residents, reach isolated communities and search for survivors.
Concerns over further flooding have also grown after China issued a Level-IV emergency alert over a newly formed barrier lake near the confluence of the Chhochen Khola and Purepu Tsangpo rivers. Both rivers originate in Tibet and form part of the Bhote Koshi river system after entering Nepal.
China’s Ministry of Water Resources said the lake contained about two million cubic metres of water by Thursday morning. With rainfall continuing, inflows were forecast to reach around three million cubic metres over the next three days, raising concerns that the natural barrier could fail and release a large volume of water downstream.
Authorities are monitoring the lake, rainfall and downstream settlements to identify areas potentially at risk, including communities around Gyirong Port on the China-Nepal border.
China has deployed satellites, drones and unmanned aerial vehicles for rescue and damage assessment. Satellite data, along with high-definition and thermal imaging equipment, is being used to identify priority search areas and locate possible survivors in mud- and vegetation-covered terrain.
The cause of the disaster was initially linked to an earthquake, but the US Geological Survey said it was triggered by a glacial collapse. According to USGS data, the collapse generated an event measuring magnitude 5.2 as the glacier struck the valley floor.
