On Thursday, Nepal and China warned of new flood risks in the Himalayas, as two lakes that formed on opposite sides of the border threaten to overflow in a region still grappling with this week's catastrophic flooding, UNN reports, citing Reuters.
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Search-and-rescue operations continue in debris-covered valleys and on hillsides; around 1,000 people are still considered missing after Wednesday's flooding in the border areas of Nepal and Chinese Tibet, which killed at least 362 people.
Both countries link the flooding to a glacier collapse that swept rocks, ice, mud and debris into river systems in the mountains.
On Thursday, Nepal's disaster management authority issued a notice warning that the level of a lake formed when debris blocked a river at the flood site was rising and that there was a risk it could burst through.
"Residents on the lower bank... rescuers involved in rescue operations, and all concerned parties are strongly advised to exercise extreme caution and remain in safe places, away from riverbanks and hazardous areas," the authorities said in a statement.
China warned that over the next three days, 3 million cubic meters of water is expected to flow into a lake on its side of the border that has already been dammed, equivalent to approximately 1,200 Olympic-sized swimming pools, creating a high risk of the dam bursting, with peak water flow expected around September 1.
Chinese state media, citing China's Ministry of Water Resources, reported that the forecast of precipitation for the following week would intensify the threat.
In Nepal and China, the number of people missing due to floods has risen to 1,45027.08.26, 15:24