Kathmandu:
Nepal said that a barrier lake upstream of the Gyirong border port on the Tibet side of the border has broken its banks, with security forces warning rescuers to head towards safety amid a renewed risk of more flooding. The new warning came two days after a glacial collapse caused deadly flash flooding that killed 469 people.
“Information has been received that a water dam has burst again on the Tibetan side,” police said in a statement.
“All security personnel, rescue workers, and the general public deployed in rescue and relief operations are requested to remain alert and immediately move to a safe location/report the incident.”
Alert !! pic.twitter.com/grYxhc5N7Q
— Nepal Police (@NepalPoliceHQ) August 28, 2026
Authorities in Nepal said they had stopped rescue operations for the next 90 minutes. According to security forces, new devastation could strike within the next few hours.
Helicopter rescue operations in the flooded district were stopped, and locals were seen rushing up the hill, according to an eyewitness.
Nepal and China had both warned earlier of fresh risks of flooding in the Himalayas as a lake that developed across their border because of debris from the flash flood threatened to burst.
“We can see that the level of water in the river is rising,” said Narendra Pariyar, the most senior bureaucrat of Nepal’s Rasuwa district.
China Also Pauses Rescue Ops
China has also, meanwhile, paused rescue operations, citing the high risk of renewed flooding in Tibet, where hundreds remain missing two days after a deadly mudslide, state media said.
A lake formed by immense piles of debris after a mudslide hit the China-Nepal border has begun overflowing towards the area that rescue teams were headed to, state broadcaster CCTV said.
“All rescue teams have been ordered to stand by in place and wait for further instructions,” it said.
Emergency teams, which had earlier accessed the area, “have been ordered to withdraw one kilometer (0.6 miles),” the broadcaster added.
The lake was formed after a wall of mud and debris had hit the border hub of Gyirong in Tibet on Wednesday. The formation of a barrier lake was captured in aerial footage by a Chinese rescue team on Thursday, showing masses of brown water accumulating in a basin with no visible outlet.
The water had already submerged bushes and trees and appeared to push against a barrier of debris and stones at the time.
Rescuers and residents on the lower banks in Nepal had already been directed to move to higher ground, and all Chinese personnel and vehicles had also withdrawn to safer areas as risks of the lake bursting and potential secondary disasters such as mountain collapses and avalanches intensified.
