(TibetanReview.net, Aug28’26) – China says more than 1,050 people have been evacuated from Tibet’s southern border port town of Kyirong amid fears of another major flood disaster while none of the 558 people missing during the Aug 26 morning flash flood, caused by a glacial collapse and massive debris flow, has been reported found or rescued so far. Besides, it is reported to have tightened grip on media coverage of the disaster. Meanwhile, both China and Nepal have issued new warnings as a debris-formed lake that has been continuing to accumulate water began overflowing and shows risk of collapsing.
As of Aug 27 afternoon, five people were confirmed dead and 558 missing on the Tibetan side of the disaster-hit border, with 469 dead and nearly 1,000 missing in Nepal, according to the scmp.com Aug 28. Those missing on the Nepali side included foreigners from over 30 countries travelling as trekkers, pilgrims, tourists and for other purposes, many in groups.
On the Tibetan side, the metres-high debris, stretching 3-km long, left by the torrential flood, which travelled at up to 200km/h (124mph) and generated a wall of water as high as 15 metres (50 feet), is stated to severely hamper search and rescue efforts.
Also hampering the search and rescue effort is stated to be growing concerns over a newly formed barrier lake created by the massive landslide near the border, upstream from Kyirong, where water levels continued to rise.
China’s state broadcaster said in an Aug 27 noon update that the barrier lake was holding more than 2.5 million cubic metres of water – the equivalent of 1,000 Olympic swimming pools. The lake had already begun to overflow, forcing a temporary pause in ground rescue operations at the site while teams awaited further directions from command headquarters, the report said.
The official Xinhua news agency cited China’s Ministry of Water Resources as saying that expected rainfall could add another 3 million cubic metres over the next three days to the lake, which has formed near the confluence of the Chhochen Khola and Purepu Tsangpo rivers.
The prospect of so much extra water raises the risk of a breach in the barrier lake that could trigger further flooding at Gyirong Port and downstream areas, the ministry has warned.
Those evacuated in Kyirong included 499 villagers and construction workers and 555 affected tourists, said a Xinhua report Aug 27.
Authorities in Tibet Autonomous Region’s Kyirong county held an evacuation drill outside the border checkpoint with Nepal just weeks before the catastrophic flash floods struck on Aug 26 morning, said the scmp.com report. The county is stated to hold regular safety exercises in the area, which is home to over 100,000 glaciers.
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China insists the deadly mudslide that swept through the Tibet-Nepal border crossing on Aug 26 morning was triggered by a high-altitude glacier collapse in Nepal.
The disaster occurred on Wednesday (Aug 26) morning on the Nepal side of the border, sending a torrent of ice, rocks and debris toward Gyirong Port in Kyirong county, a major land crossing linking Tibet and Nepal in Shigatse, Tibet autonomous region, said China’s official chinadaily.com.cn Aug 28.
Even so, as the area first hit by the disaster, China failed to alert downstream Nepal of the impending torrential flood to help save lives and reduce loss of properties.
The report cited China’s Ministry of Natural Resources as saying the disaster began with a high-altitude glacier collapse in Nepal. The falling ice and rock travelled rapidly down a mountain slope, scouring loose glacial debris along its path and developing into a debris flow before entering the Kyirong Zangbo river and becoming a mudslide.
The flow then struck facilities at Gyirong Port before continuing downstream toward Nepal, Guo Zhaocheng, director of the geological disaster investigation and monitoring center at the China Aero Geophysical Survey and Remote Sensing Center for Natural Resources, has said
Chinese authorities have provided limited information about the scale and impact of the disaster, with state media largely focusing on rescue and relief operations. In fact, it has tightened restrictions on videos and online coverage of the flash floods and landslides that struck areas along the Nepal-Tibet border, said news18.com Aug 27.
Several videos filmed by residents in Tibet, including a widely circulated clip showing a mudslide engulfing a border crossing in Kyirong County, have reportedly been removed from Chinese social media platforms, the report said, citing The New York Times.