Nepal and China have paused rescue efforts for survivors of the devastating flash flood that hit the border region two days ago as a “barrier lake” formed during the disaster began to overflow.
asserted
lake → pause → disaster
Chinese rescue teams and vehicles were forced to pull back to safe ground, state broadcaster CCTV reported, as the risk of the lake bursting rose.
asserted
risk → force → ground
Nepalese authorities also paused search operations for 90 minutes, an army officer confirmed.
asserted
officer → pause → minutes
The “barrier lake”, formed as Wednesday’s flash flood carried huge volumes of mud and debris down a steep valley, is threatening to unleash another huge and destructive wave.
asserted
flood → form → wave
In Nepal’s Rasuwa district, on the border with Tibet, residents were seen scrambling up hillsides to escape potential surges in the river level, according to the Reuters news agency.
uncertain
residents → see → agency
The disaster unfolded as a glacier collapsed and sent a huge torrent of ice, water, rock, and mud down Himalayan river valleys, burying entire villages and destroying roads, bridges, and hydropower plants.
asserted
glacier → unfold → roads
In its wake, leftover debris trapped water to form a barrier lake, a natural dam created when landslides block a river.
asserted
landslides → trap → river
With water continuing to pour into the lake, the threat to downstream communities of another wave of flooding is rising.
asserted
threat → continue → flooding
China has deployed an engineering team to conduct aerial surveys and 3D modelling of the site.
asserted
China → deploy → site
By Friday, the lake’s volume had swelled to more than 2.5 million cubic metres, up from the estimated 1.5 to 2 million cubic metres recorded just a day earlier.
asserted
volume → swell → metres
Downstream in Nepal, officials received warnings that the lake had begun breaking its bank, according to Narendra Pariyar, the top administrator in the hard-hit Rasuwa district.
uncertain
lake → receive → district
“We can see that the level of water in the river is rising,” he said, adding that the exact height of the surge remains unclear.
uncertain
height → see → surge
Relief supplies blocked
The death toll from the disaster has surpassed 470.
asserted
toll → block → 470
On Friday, the Nepalese prime minister’s office reported 469 confirmed deaths, with 977 people still missing.
asserted
people → report → deaths
About 1,550 people have been rescued.
asserted
people → rescue → ?
Chinese authorities reported on Friday that the death toll in Tibet has now risen to at least five, with 558 missing.
asserted
558 → report → five
Bishal Nath Upreti, president of the Nepal Centre for Disaster Management, told Al Jazeera that conditions are “extremely difficult” for those trapped in the disaster zone, as destroyed roads have left them completely cut off.
asserted
roads → tell → them
So far, about 800 people have been rescued by helicopter and 700 by land, with airlifts delivering vital aid to survivors.
asserted
airlifts → rescue → survivors
Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu, reporting from Beijing, said the number of missing is expected to rise.
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number → report → missing
China has deployed about 500 military and paramilitary personnel and sent Premier Li Qiang to supervise operations on the ground, while Nepal has deployed 30,000 security personnel to search remote, cut-off valleys, she said.
asserted
she → deploy → valleys
More than 90,000 people are estimated to have been affected by disaster, the Red Cross said on Friday, adding that the delivery of relief supplies has been blocked by the overflowing lake.
“We’re of course very concerned about the secondary flood,” said David Fisher, head of delegation for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Nepal.
asserted
Fisher → estimate → Nepal
The Aporia
