Rescue resumes after new flood scare as Nepal-China disaster toll passes 550
KATHMANDU/BEIJING — Rescue operations resumed across flood-ravaged areas of Nepal and China's Tibet region on Friday after an overflowing barrier lake forced teams to temporarily withdraw, adding a dangerous second-disaster threat to an emergency that has already killed more than 550 people and left nearly 1,000 missing. Wednesday's catastrophic flood, triggered after a glacier collapse sent rock, ice, mud and debris through Himalayan river systems, has killed at least 547 people in Nepal and five in Tibet, according to the latest figures reported by Reuters. More than 90,000 people are estimated to have been affected, while hundreds of foreign tourists and pilgrims remain among the missing. Chinese authorities said the operation had reached a crucial stage as rescuers confronted destroyed roads, unstable mountains, continuing rainfall and the possibility that newly formed lakes could trigger further flooding.
The immediate danger intensified Friday when a lake formed by debris from the disaster began overflowing into the Lhende Khola river and then the Trishuli system. The reservoir had grown to more than 2.5 million cubic metres, up from an estimated 1.5 million to 2 million cubic metres a day earlier, prompting Nepalese authorities to suspend rescue operations for roughly three hours and Chinese teams to withdraw personnel and vehicles to safer ground. Nepal Army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet said monitoring subsequently showed the river had risen by about two feet, and operations resumed after officials determined the immediate threat was manageable. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV similarly said rescue work around badly damaged Gyirong restarted and was intensified after the upstream risk eased.
The temporary withdrawal exposed the extraordinary difficulty facing search teams more than 48 hours after the original flood. Rescuers are racing against time to locate survivors while operating inside the same unstable landscape capable of producing another disaster. China's government warned that steep valleys, volatile weather, glaciers, glacial lakes and continuing geological hazards could threaten both survivors and emergency personnel. Beijing ordered stronger monitoring of barrier lakes and surrounding mountains and said rescue plans must account for secondary disasters rather than focusing only on recovering people from Wednesday's devastation. Nepal's government said river systems and downstream flood risks were also being continuously monitored while security forces, disaster agencies and medical services remained fully mobilised.
The crisis has now reached China's highest political leadership. President Xi Jinping chaired a meeting of the Communist Party's Politburo on Friday devoted to the disaster, with China's leaders observing a moment of silence for those killed and ordering authorities to make every effort to find missing Chinese and foreign nationals. Premier Li Qiang had already travelled to Gyirong to supervise the response, while Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing was also dispatched to the disaster zone. Beijing said military personnel, armed police, firefighters and specialist engineering teams had been mobilised and promised emergency assistance to Nepal as well as international rescue cooperation. The unusually senior political response reflects both the scale of the disaster and the large number of foreign nationals caught in the cross-border catastrophe.
Access remains one of the biggest obstacles. Wednesday's torrent tore through villages and valleys along the route linking Kathmandu with Lhasa, destroying roads, bridges, power stations and communications infrastructure. Chinese rescuers were still struggling to reach some of the worst-hit areas around the Gyirong border crossing, where dramatic footage showed water and debris overwhelming buildings within seconds. On the Nepalese side, helicopters have become essential for reaching isolated areas, but poor weather and unstable terrain have complicated flights. Families of nine South Korean workers missing from a hydropower project appealed Friday for urgent helicopter access, saying critical search time was being lost.
Foreign nationals make up an unusually large proportion of those still unaccounted for because the disaster struck a major route used by tourists, trekkers and Hindu pilgrims travelling toward Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar in Tibet. Reuters reported that at least 540 foreigners remain missing across the affected region. Chinese authorities previously said 558 people were unaccounted for in Gyirong County alone, including 260 foreign nationals, while families from India, South Korea and other countries have been seeking information through embassies and tour operators. The scale of the international missing-person operation has made coordination between Nepal, China and foreign governments an increasingly important part of the rescue effort.
The disaster began when a huge mass of glacier, ice and rock collapsed high in the Himalayas on Wednesday, generating a debris-filled surge through the river system. Initial reports described a magnitude-4.4 earthquake around the time of the catastrophe, but subsequent analysis indicated that the seismic signal was generated by the enormous collapse itself rather than an earthquake triggering the disaster. The resulting torrent carried rock, mud and ice through narrow valleys at tremendous speed, destroying communities and infrastructure downstream. The same debris subsequently blocked waterways and created the barrier lake now complicating rescue operations.
The newly formed lake remains a major concern despite Friday's easing of the immediate danger. China's Ministry of Water Resources has warned that additional water could enter the system over coming days, while continuing rainfall may further destabilise already loosened slopes. Scientists and disaster authorities are therefore watching not only the lake itself but surrounding mountains for landslides, avalanches and additional glacial failures. Beijing's Politburo specifically ordered stronger monitoring of glacier lakes and barrier lakes, suggesting the secondary threat has become central to the response rather than a peripheral concern.
Nepal's government said Friday that 538 bodies had been recovered from river areas by 3 p.m. local time, with locals and tourists still missing, while warning that figures could continue changing as teams reach isolated communities. The difference between national and cross-border totals reflects rapidly developing counts from different agencies and recovery areas, making attribution important as the operation continues. Nepal said it was using all available national resources for search, rescue, evacuation and relief, while China offered emergency assistance and closer disaster-response cooperation.
More than two days after the flood, the operation has therefore entered a race on two fronts. Teams must locate people who may still be alive beneath debris or trapped in isolated areas, but they must do so without becoming casualties themselves if another lake breach, landslide or sudden rise in river levels occurs. Friday's temporary suspension demonstrated how quickly the rescue mission can become another evacuation. The immediate flood threat has eased enough for teams to return, but the mountains above them remain unstable — making every remaining hour increasingly important for both the missing and those searching for them.