Nepal seeking to reach 100 flood survivors in tunnel
Rescue operations are underway in Nepal and Tibet following a catastrophic glacial collapse that triggered massive flooding and mudslides. Authorities are struggling to reach survivors trapped in a tunnel while facing the ongoing threat of further glacial lake breaches.
Why it matters
The disaster highlights the increasing risks posed by climate change to mountainous regions and the vulnerability of infrastructure to glacial instability.
This aerial image released on the Chinese social media platform Weibo account of the Lhasa Mobile Fire and Rescue Service on August 27, 2026, shows a barrier lake which formed after a landslide near where Nepal’s Chhochen Khola River flows into the Purepu Tsangpo River, in Gyirong county, in China’s Tibet region. A lake created after a mudslide hit the China-Nepal border faces a “high risk of breaching and sending floodwaters downstream”, Chinese state media reported on August 28, citing water authorities. The lake formed after a wall of mud and debris hit the border hub of Gyirong in Tibet on August 26, with hundreds reported missing. (Photo by Lhasa Mobile Fire and Rescue Detachment / AFP)
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