TRISHULI/BEIJING, Aug 27 — Nepal and China have both warned of the fresh risks of flooding in the Himalayas as two lakes that have developed on either side of their border threaten to burst in a region still grappling with this week's catastrophic flood.
Search and rescue operations are still underway in the debris-strewn valleys and hillsides, with nearly 1,000 people still missing after yesterday's flood struck the border regions of Nepal and China's Tibet, killing at least 362 people.
Both countries have blamed the flood on a glacier collapse that pushed rock, ice, mud, and debris into mountain river systems.
Earlier today, Nepal's disaster authority issued a notice, warning that a lake formed by debris blocking a river at the flood site is rising and at risk of bursting.
"Residents of the lower banks...passengers, rescuers engaged in rescue operations, and all concerned are requested to exercise special caution and stay in safe places away from the river banks and risky areas," it said.
China warned that three million cubic metres of water are expected to flow into an already dammed lake on its side of the border over the next three days, creating a high risk of a breach, with peak flow expected around Tuesday (September 1).
Chinese state media reported that the Water Resources Ministry said rainfall forecast over the coming week will exacerbate the threat.
"The volume of water is continuing to increase, and so is the risk," the ministry's Hydrology Department researcher Zhu Jinfeng told state broadcaster CCTV.
Heeding the warning, some rescue workers in Nepal began moving towards higher ground today.
Among them was Pawan Koirala, who began moving away from the riverbed with his team of 13 after the warning was issued.
"We are here for rescue, and do not want to be near the danger zone," he said.
