A catastrophic flash-flood disaster along the Nepal-China border has killed more than 540 people and left over 1,500 missing, as rescue teams race to find survivors while authorities warn that a newly formed lake could trigger another round of devastating flooding.
Rescue operations continued Friday across badly damaged areas of Nepal and Tibet, with survivors being pulled from thick mud and thousands of stranded people evacuated by helicopter.
Nepal’s disaster management authority reported at least 538 deaths, while police later placed the country’s death toll at 547. More than 3,700 people have been rescued.
On the Chinese side of the border, at least five people were reported dead. Chinese state media had earlier reported 558 people missing, while Nepalese authorities said 977 people remained unaccounted for in Nepal.
Among the missing are hundreds of foreign nationals who had travelled to the Himalayan region for work, trekking or religious pilgrimages.
The situation became even more dangerous Friday when Nepalese police issued a fresh warning after receiving information that a dam on the Tibet side of the border had burst. Security personnel, rescue workers and residents in potentially affected areas were told to remain on high alert and move to safer locations if necessary.
Authorities were also closely monitoring a barrier lake that formed high in the mountains following Wednesday’s disaster.
The lake, located on the Chinese side of the Himalayas at an elevation of approximately 2,950 metres, was already overflowing, raising fears that additional water could rush into valleys and communities downstream.
Concerns about another surge temporarily interrupted rescue efforts near Gyirong Port, one of the areas hardest hit by the disaster.
Despite extremely difficult conditions, around 680 rescuers eventually reached the Gyirong area using a combination of walking, rafts and other methods. Chinese television footage showed some rescue personnel being transported into inaccessible areas with the assistance of drones.
Across the border in Nepal, rescue teams were also working to reach people trapped inside a hydropower tunnel in Rasuwa connected with the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project.
Mud and debris have made it extremely difficult for rescuers to locate the tunnel’s entry and exit points.
Nepal Army officials said finding survivors remains the highest priority, with rescue crews continuing to search areas buried beneath enormous quantities of mud.
More than 3,250 people have been airlifted by helicopter from affected areas, according to Nepal’s disaster management authority. Injured survivors and other evacuees have been transported to Kathmandu and safer locations.
Scientists studying satellite imagery believe the disaster began when bedrock beneath a glacier high in the Himalayan region collapsed, bringing part of the glacier down with it.
The massive rockfall was powerful enough to generate seismic activity equivalent to a magnitude 5.2 event.
The combination of falling rock, ice and meltwater rapidly increased the volume and force of rivers flowing through valleys below, producing an enormous torrent that swept away buildings, bridges, roads and large amounts of earth across parts of Tibet and Nepal.
Survivors have described the disaster as happening with almost no warning.
Customs officer Karbir Gaire was working in Timure, a Nepalese village close to the Chinese border, when he felt the ground shaking Wednesday morning.
Seconds later, he saw what he described as a dark mass rushing toward the area.
Gaire and several others immediately ran from their building and climbed uphill. He believes the few seconds they had to react saved their lives.
Fifteen of his colleagues remain missing.
Gaire described the disaster as resembling a scene from a Hollywood movie and said the force of the water was so overwhelming that he considered it more like a tsunami than an ordinary flood.
The tragedy is also affecting families around the world.
Nepal’s tourism authorities have said more than 500 foreigners are among those reported missing.
Around 90 Americans were unaccounted for. U.S. President Donald Trump described the devastation as terrible and said the United States had offered Nepal whatever assistance it required.
Canadians have also been caught in the disaster, with 30 Canadian citizens and permanent residents reported among those missing following the flooding in Nepal and Tibet.
Families in several countries are now desperately waiting for information about relatives who were travelling through the region.
Some of those missing are believed to have been travelling to Mount Kailash in Tibet, a sacred pilgrimage destination for Hindus, Buddhists and followers of other religious traditions.
The scale and suddenness of the disaster have complicated efforts to determine exactly how many people remain trapped or missing.
With hundreds confirmed dead, more than 1,500 still unaccounted for and thousands already evacuated, the Nepal-China border disaster has become one of the region’s deadliest natural catastrophes in recent years.
Rescue teams are continuing their search for survivors, but the threat from the newly formed barrier lake means authorities are simultaneously preparing for the possibility of further flooding.
For communities already devastated by Wednesday’s torrent, the immediate priority remains finding the missing while moving survivors and rescue personnel away from areas that could once again be overwhelmed by water.