BEIJING WARNS OF NEW FLOOD RISK AFTER BARRIER LAKE BURSTS FOLLOWING DEADLY GLACIER EVENT

Fri 28 August 2026:

On Friday, China indicated that a high-altitude glacier collapse in Nepal might have set off the cross-border catastrophe that claimed at least 480 lives, while President Xi Jinping urged officials to make “every effort” to locate every missing Chinese and foreign national.

“We noted that experts and official institutions of China and Nepal have made preliminary assessment on the cause of the disaster,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters in Beijing when asked about the Wednesday morning flash floods that hit northern and central Nepal as well as China’s southern Tibet region.

Early Wednesday, floods and landslides tore through northern and central Nepal, racing through settlements along the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers and sweeping people and debris downstream.

On the Chinese side of the border, mudslides hit Gyirong County in the southwestern Xizang Autonomous Region, also known as Tibet.

“The disaster may have been triggered by a collapse of a high-altitude glacier in Nepal,” Lin said.

The statement came from Beijing as the death toll from devastating flash floods rose to 480, with more than 1,200 people, most of them foreign nationals, still missing.

The Nepalese police said the death toll from Wednesday’s floods had reached 475, while China has confirmed five deaths.

Floods in Nepal wreak havoc, sweeping away several villages and leaving over 1,000 people missing. Bridges and power plants destroyed. Army deployed. pic.twitter.com/4XaxIfZvnQ

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) August 26, 2026

Barrier lake reportedly breaches

On Friday, fresh concerns were raised after a large barrier lake that formed amid the flash floods reportedly breached, “raising fresh concerns of another surge of water into Nepal’s Bhotekoshi river,” the daily Kathmandu Post reported.

Beijing had warned on Thursday that the lake near the confluence of the Chhochen Khola and Purepu Tsangpo rivers was “already overflowing” and posed a “high risk of a breach.”

The two rivers merge before entering Nepal, where the river is known as Bhotekoshi, the main tributary of the Trishuli River.

“Information has come that the lake on the Chinese side has breached. So, preparations are underway to send helicopters stationed in Dhunche and Rasuwa for reconnaissance,” said a rescue official at Nepal’s Tribhuvan International Airport.

Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said the water level in the Bhotekoshi River has surged, warning of possible additional floods.

However, Nepal’s Education Minister Sasmita Pokharel said there “is no immediate major risk,” according to the Online Khabar outlet.

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The Foreign Ministry in Kathmandu said 596 people from 33 countries were still missing.

Another 127 Nepalese nationals were unaccounted for, according to the Nepal Tourism Board.

China said 558 people, including 260 foreigners, remained missing in Tibet as search-and-rescue operations continued.

Figures shared by Nepal and China showed that some 1,281 people, including 856 foreigners, were still missing.

Terrifying Scenes of Flood in Nepal!

A sudden devastating flood in the Bhote Koshi River in Nepal’s Rasuwa district has caused massive destruction. Videos that have surfaced clearly show the river’s furious form and the chaos all around.

Reports indicate that several markets,… pic.twitter.com/BOGtxZhI7o

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) August 26, 2026

Lin said the details of the foreigners missing “are being verified” and that Beijing “has already notified relevant countries’ embassies.”

Leaders of the ruling Communist Party of China met in Beijing on Friday under President Xi and emphasized that: “All relevant authorities and departments must take resolute and effective measures for the rescue-related work.”

“China will provide emergency aid to the disaster-hit area in Nepal and carry out international rescue cooperation,” the meeting said, according to state-run Xinhua News.

The water surge on Wednesday led to flooding in the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa, northern Nepal, while flash floods and mudslides swept through the Timure and Syaphrubesi areas, causing widespread devastation before the floodwaters flowed downstream toward the Trishuli River.

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