A glacier collapse along the Nepal-Tibet border has killed more than 350 people and left over 1,000 missing, as rescue teams continue to search through mud and debris. The flash flood struck on Wednesday morning, sweeping away homes, roads, bridges and power plants in a matter of minutes.
What happened
A large block of glacier ice and rock broke off and crashed into the Lhende Khola river, a tributary of the Bhotekoshi river that runs between China and Nepal. The collapse formed a natural dam of ice and debris. That dam soon gave way, releasing a sudden surge of water, mud and rock into the valley below.
Experts at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu said water levels on the Trishuli river, downstream of the Bhotekoshi, rose by as much as 9 meters in half an hour. The event was strong enough to register as a 5.2-magnitude seismic event. The Lhende Khola has now flooded twice in 14 months, the second time triggered by an ice-rock avalanche from a glacier on the Nepal side.
Rescue efforts and barrier lakes
Rescuers are digging through collapsed buildings and thick mud in Rasuwa district, where the damage was heaviest. Hundreds of Indian pilgrims on the Kailash Mansarovar route are among those unaccounted for. Helicopter flights were temporarily halted after a debris dam broke its banks on the Nepali side, causing the Bhotekoshi to rise again.
On the Chinese side, authorities are watching a lake near Gyirong that holds more than 2.5 million cubic meters of water. Officials said the lake posed a high breach risk but was draining naturally. People living downstream have been told to stay away from riverbanks and move to higher ground.
A region at growing risk
Scientists say warming temperatures are making high-altitude regions unstable. Glaciers in the Himalayas are melting and retreating, and sudden collapses of the kind that caused this flood are becoming more likely. The disaster is a reminder that communities living in narrow mountain valleys face a rising threat from ice and rock avalanches.