Nepal-China Border Lake Overflows, Halting Rescue as Death Toll Nears 500

A lake formed by a landslide on the Nepal-China border overflowed on Friday, triggering panic and forcing a temporary halt to rescue operations in areas already devastated by a catastrophic flash flood two days earlier.

The initial flood, caused by a glacier collapse on Wednesday, has killed 489 people in Nepal and five in China's Tibet, with nearly 1,000 more still missing across both countries. The disaster sent a massive torrent of rock, ice, mud, and debris through Himalayan river systems.

The newly formed lake's reservoir had swelled to over 2.5 million cubic metres of water by Friday, up from an estimated 1.5-2 million cubic metres the day before, before overflowing into the Bhotekoshi River, according to authorities and witnesses.

"We have received a notice saying that the lake has broken its banks," said Narendra Pariyar, the most senior bureaucrat in Nepal's flood-hit Rasuwa district. "But we do not know how big it is and how high is its water level. We can see that the level of water in the river is rising."

Panic spread as residents fled to higher ground, carrying their belongings. "Everyone started saying 'run', so I ran. The siren in Bidur (town) also went off. I was very scared," said Shanti Tamang, 40. Police remained on standby with ropes and stretchers, and rescue workers were also instructed to move to safer locations.

The risk of the lake bursting prompted all Chinese rescue personnel and vehicles to withdraw to a safe area, state broadcaster CCTV reported. In Nepal, rescue operations were stopped for 90 minutes before resuming, an army officer said.

In Beijing, China's Politburo met on Friday to direct rescue work. The meeting, chaired by President Xi Jinping, called for authorities to "scientifically formulate search-and-rescue plans, make every effort to search for missing people from China and abroad," according to state news agency Xinhua. It acknowledged that rescue work faced "extremely difficult challenges" and urged stronger monitoring of glacier lakes and landslide risks.

Wednesday's flood ripped through villages and valleys, destroying power stations, roads, and bridges along a key route linking Kathmandu with Lhasa in Tibet. Of those missing, at least 540 are foreigners, many of them Hindu pilgrims from India heading to the holy Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar.

Nepal has declined foreign search-and-rescue assistance, stating its own security agencies are handling the operation. "The offer for help is natural. Our security agencies are doing the search and rescue operation. For now we don't require such help," said Lok Bahadur Chhetri, spokesperson for the foreign ministry. A South Korean rapid response team is already in Kathmandu but has not been deployed.

Meanwhile, relatives of the missing are desperately seeking information. Sneha Sudhir, one of ten women whose husbands were trekking to Mount Kailash from Nepal, spoke of their anguish. "Where are they?" she asked tearfully. "Everybody is taking turns in shedding their tears, wiping it off and getting back to work."

President Donald Trump said the U.S. had offered support to Nepal, describing the scene: "Nobody's ever seen anything quite like that, where very powerful, strong, well-built buildings were wiped out like they were toothpicks."