Second flood 'imminent'? Nepal halts rescue ops as China border lake begins overflowing
Nepal has suspended rescue operations following a fresh flood alert caused by an overflowing lake on the Nepal-China border. Experts fear that debris from a previous disaster may have created a landslide dam, risking a second, more catastrophic flood.
Why it matters
The situation highlights the extreme vulnerability of Himalayan regions to climate-induced disasters and the difficulty of managing cross-border environmental risks.
A lake formed by a landslide on the Nepal-China border began overflowing on Friday, triggering a fresh flood alert and forcing Nepal to temporarily suspend rescue operations in areas devastated by a flash flood two days ago.Nepal and China have both warned of fresh flooding after Wednesday's catastrophic flash flood killed at least 469 people in Nepal and left nearly 1,000 missing. The disaster was triggered after a glacier collapse in the Himalayas sent huge amounts of ice, rock and water downstream, devastating settlements, bridges and hydropower projects.Chinese authorities said on Friday that the newly formed lake had grown to more than 2.5 million cubic metres of water, up from an estimated 1.5-2 million cubic metres recorded a day earlier.
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