China-Nepal floods: rescue operations continue under threat of lake collapse - South China Morning Post
Rescue operations are underway in Nepal and China following devastating floods that have left hundreds dead and missing. China has dispatched specialist tunnel rescuers to assist in the search for survivors trapped in hydropower facilities.
Why it matters
The disaster highlights the vulnerability of border regions to climate-related events and the necessity of international cooperation in emergency response.
China has sent nine specialist tunnel rescuers to Nepal to help with emergency operations following a direct request from Kathmandu, as search teams race against time to find survivors from Wednesday’s devastating floods.
Seven people have been confirmed dead on the Chinese side, with 544 still missing as the rescue operation passed a critical 72-hour window.
In Nepal, at least 675 have died and nearly 2,500 – hundreds of them foreigners – are missing.
Five of the Chinese tunnel experts were flown in by helicopter from Gyirong county in Tibet, state news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday. They arrived in the afternoon to join rescue operations at a hydropower plant in the border region.
The five were “urgently dispatched at the request of the Nepalese government”, China’s Ministry of Emergency Management said on Saturday evening.
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