Severe flooding and debris flows in the Himalayan region bordering Nepal have resulted in increasing casualties in China. The death toll on the Chinese side has risen to seven due to the flooding that struck the border area.
According to Yonhap News on August 29, the emergency management authorities in the Tibet Autonomous Region reported that as of 1 a.m. local time, seven people had died and 554 were missing in the Rugao County of Tibet, which borders Nepal. Among those initially classified as missing, two local residents were dramatically rescued by search teams.
The disaster began on August 26 when glaciers and rocks collapsed in the Himalayan highlands. The massive flooding triggered by the glacier collapse swept down the valley, developing into debris flows that struck the area around Rugao County in China, near the Nepal border, causing significant damage, according to Chinese authorities.
As hundreds remain missing, search efforts are underway. The state-run Xinhua News Agency reported that the Tibet Autonomous Region's emergency management agency quickly deployed 2,141 rescue personnel to the scene, with 505 firefighters and local officials actively engaged in rescue operations.
In particular, the Sichuan Fire Rescue Corps is conducting a comprehensive search using rubber boats for water access, foot patrols in mountainous areas, and drones for aerial reconnaissance.
Additionally, 86 specialists in natural resources have been dispatched to closely monitor the risk of further geological disasters in the surrounding mountains and roads, while efforts are being made to restore 1.02 kilometers of road leading to the affected areas to secure access.
Authorities are also on high alert for the possibility of additional disasters. They have established a monitoring station with five personnel around a landslide-formed dam, known as a landslide lake, to maintain real-time surveillance. The Chinese Ministry of Water Resources has instructed a comprehensive assessment of the inflow and outflow of the landslide lake, as well as its overall stability, to analyze the risk of collapse and potential impact.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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