Nepal’s flash flood death toll has risen to 469, with 977 people still missing, including 517 foreign nationals. The Nepal Army has rescued 883 people, while more than 13,000 security personnel have been deployed for search, rescue and relief work in affected areas.
The disaster has also triggered scrutiny of China’s role in warning Nepal about the danger. Allegations circulating online claim that Nepal did not receive timely advance information and that earlier notice could have reduced the loss of life and property. China’s embassy in Nepal has rejected those claims.
China denies withholding information
In a on X, the Chinese embassy described the circulating reports as fake. It said an earthquake-like event in Nepal on 26 August, caused by an earthquake or glacier collapse, led to landslides and deaths. The embassy added that people were missing on both the Nepal and China sides of the border.
In a separate statement, the embassy expressed deep sorrow over the sudden flooding in the Rasuwagadhi–Gyirong border area and said China would provide Nepal with all possible assistance. Its initial account attributed the disaster to an earthquake on the Nepal side, followed by an avalanche and debris flow that caused deaths and disappearances across the border.
The embassy also said Nepal and China should strengthen the exchange of information on weather, hydrology and geological hazards, particularly for disasters that cross the border. It said the 2 neighbouring countries should use the experience to improve preparedness and protect lives and property on both sides.
Officials still seeking a clear account
Laxmi Prasad Niraula, Nepal’s consul general in Lhasa, was cited as saying that officials from both countries had been unable to establish contact with security personnel deployed along the border. Because communications in affected areas were down, reliable official information about where the flooding began and what caused it was not available.
Niraula also said Chinese officials had not yet determined the flood’s starting point or actual source. The lack of communication has made it difficult to obtain dependable information from the affected locations.
The uncertainty has intensified calls in Nepal for a real-time system to share disaster information with China. Former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, known as Prachanda, raised the issue at an all-party meeting on Thursday, saying special attention was needed for information sharing with China in view of the situation in Rasuwa.
Reports differ over where the flood began
A report from Ukera said a sudden flood struck Tibet’s Kerung County at about 10:30 on Wednesday morning. It said the time was about 8:15 according to Nepal time, and that the powerful flow reached Nepal’s Bhotekoshi River roughly 45 minutes later.
The report cited Shanti Mahat, a spokesperson for Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, as saying Nepal did not receive flood information from China. According to that account, the chief district officer of Rasuwa informed the authority by telephone at about 9 in the morning local time.
The Kathmandu , meanwhile, cited Niraula as saying that officials could not yet confirm where the flooding originated or establish its actual cause. The differing accounts mean that the precise starting point of the disaster remains unresolved in the supplied reporting.
Early-warning system remains under scrutiny
The South China Morning ed that it had not been confirmed whether an early-warning system operating along the China–Nepal border detected unusual activity before the disaster. It was also unclear whether the system issued any warning related to the event.
Scientists associated with the system said it had issued timely warnings on 7 occasions, including 1 warning in the China–Nepal border region last year. They did not clarify whether the system issued a warning before Wednesday’s disaster.
The Chinese digital newspaper The Paper spoke to Kang Shichang, an expert associated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Kang said that if the movement of snow and rocks in the upper part of a mountain is detected early, a warning could be issued about 20 minutes in advance.
He also said the area did not have enough monitoring equipment. According to his explanation, if the flood originated on the Nepal side, sensors might detect danger only after the fast-moving debris and mud had already travelled downhill.
Calls for better coordination
The disaster has renewed earlier demands for timely information from China during glacial-lake outbursts and sudden floods in Nepal. The central unresolved issue is whether the border warning system detected the danger and, if so, whether any warning reached Nepal before the flooding.
Nepal’s immediate priority remains the continuing rescue and relief operation, with hundreds dead and hundreds of people still unaccounted for. At the same time, officials and political leaders are pressing for stronger real-time coordination so that information about future weather, hydrological and geological hazards can move more quickly across the border.
