A lake overflows in the area of the deadly flood in Nepal and the water level rises again
Fear seizes the border crossing that separates China from Nepal, where Wednesday's great flood already leaves 470 dead
The border between northern Nepal and southwestern Tibet holds its breath before the possibility of a new flood.Chinese and Nepali authorities have had to temporarily suspend rescue operations for people in the Tibetan county of Gyirong: a lake that has formed upstream after the rise has overflowed and is already raising the water level. Fear grips the place in case the terrible images that were experienced on Wednesday in the area are repeated, and both countries have already warned of a great risk of flooding.
According to information from Chinese state media, the water in the lake formed by the landslide has begun to drain slowly. The Xinhua news agency also reports that closed-circuit cameras are being installed around the lake to better assess the situation in the coming hours.
Nepalese authorities have raised this Friday to 475 the death toll from the terrible flood. The majority of bodies recovered are in the Chitwan and Nawalparasi East districts. Likewise, they have put the number of injured people rescued at 1,545, and the number of missing persons remains at 977, including 517 foreigners. Regarding China, it has not yet updated the death toll, which according to its records remains at 3, in addition to hundreds of missing people. In total, more than a thousand people continue to be unaccounted for.
It is in the Chinese part of the border between Nepal and Tibet where the lake is found, which has been created by the accumulation of mud and rocks after the great flood. It is about 10 kilometers from the border crossing.
Nepal's emergency authorities have asked the population to stay away from riverbanks and risk areas. Chinese emergency teams are currently concentrating at the entrance to the town of Laojiang, awaiting further instructions.
A lake that has not stopped growing
It is believed that at the point where Wednesday's flood originated, the river became blocked and created the artificial lake that began to overflow this Friday. Data collected by Chinese media in recent hours place the volume of water retained in this enclave above two million cubic meters, but it could increase to three million in the next two to three days.
This accumulation of water is located at an altitude of about 2,950 meters and about 1,000 meters above the Gyirong pass, which is why authorities have warned that a sudden overflow could trigger new floods or landslides downstream. However, Nepalese experts currently rule out a scenario as catastrophic as the one experienced this week.
However, this fear further complicates rescue efforts, which were already very difficult due to the amount of ice, rock, and mud that swept through the area. It is believed that the fall of a glacier is what caused the overflow of the river that separates China from Nepal and caused a major catastrophe in this Himalayan region.