China and Nepal simultaneously warned of new flood risks in the Himalayas, as two lakes formed on both sides of the border are at risk of breaking, while the region is still struggling with the disastrous flood earlier this week, according to Xinhua.
Search and rescue work is still continuing in valleys and hillsides filled with rubble.
Both countries identified the cause of the flood as the collapse of a glacial mass, pushing rocks, ice, mud and debris into the mountainous river and stream system.
Mr. Guo Zhaocheng, an expert from the Chinese Ministry of Natural Resources, said that the mud and rock flow was triggered by the ice river collapse in Nepal, at a higher altitude. The huge mass of material quickly poured downstream, carrying ice material along the way to form a mud and rock flow sweeping through the Gyirong border gate of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, before continuing down towards Nepal.
China warned that about 3 million cubic meters of water - equivalent to the capacity of about 1,200 Olympic swimming pools - are expected to pour into a lake that has been blocked on its border in the next 3 days, creating a high risk of lake breaches, with the expected peak flowfall around September 1.
Rain forecasts for next week will exacerbate the threat, media quoted information from the Chinese Ministry of Irrigation as saying. "Water volume continues to increase, and so do risks," said Zhu Jinfeng, a researcher at the hydrological department of the Ministry of Irrigation, to CCTV television.
On the Nepalese side, the country's disaster management agency issued a warning that a lake formed by rocks blocking the river in the flood area is rising and at risk of breaking.
Before that warning, some rescuers in Nepal began moving to higher positions. Among them was Mr. Pawan Koirala, who and a group of 13 members left the riverbed area immediately after the warning was issued. "We are here to rescue and do not want to be near the dangerous area," he said.
