Key facts
- Rescuers found survivors near the China-Nepal border after devastating floods.
- Nearly 600 people have died and almost 2,500 are missing across Nepal and China.
- Rescue operations are challenged by poor weather, thick mud, and a new glacial lake threatening further flooding.
- Nepal has accepted offers of foreign aid for rescue and body identification efforts.
- A damaged border crossing on the Chinese side is largely reduced to ruins.
Rescuers have pulled survivors from rubble near the Tibet border following devastating floods that have impacted Nepal and China. The death toll has climbed to nearly 600 across both countries, with thousands more missing. Efforts to reach stranded individuals are being hampered by poor weather, thick mud, and the risk of further inundation from a newly formed glacial lake in the Himalayas.
On the Chinese side of the border, a rescue team rappelled into the heavily damaged Gyirong border crossing, described by an official as "nothing but ruins." Meanwhile, Nepal's army is assisting in the rescue of over 100 people trapped in a hydroelectric plant tunnel, with rescue work complicated by mud.
Authorities have issued alerts regarding a potential dam break on the Tibet side and the overflow of the new glacial lake, prompting evacuations and temporary halts to rescue operations. However, monitoring data later indicated the lake's water level had decreased.
Nepal has reversed an earlier decision and will now permit foreign teams and experts to aid in rescue and body identification efforts, reportedly under pressure from countries with citizens among the missing. Over 3,700 people have been rescued in Nepal so far.