Nepal, China warn of fresh flood risks with lakes threatening to burst

TRISHULI, Nepal / BEIJING — The Himalayan region between Nepal and China faces an escalating threat of floods as two lakes situated on either side of their border edge on the verge of bursting, according to both nations. The warning comes in the wake of devastating floods that swept through the border areas of Nepal and China's Tibet on Wednesday, claiming at least 362 lives and leaving nearly 1,000 people still unaccounted for.

The disaster authority in Nepal has issued a stark warning, alerting residents of the lower banks to exercise extreme caution and seek refuge in safe locations away from the riverbanks and hazardous zones. Similarly, China has sounded the alarm, estimating that a staggering 3 million cubic meters of water — comparable to the volume of a significant lake — is poised to inundate the affected areas.

The catastrophic floods were triggered by the collapse of a glacier, which unleashed a torrent of rock, ice, mud, and debris into the mountainous river systems. Both nations attribute the initial disaster to this natural phenomenon, but the looming threat of the lakes bursting now adds a new layer of peril to an already dire situation.