Tibet mudslide rescue halted over flood risk, CCTV says

China paused rescue work Friday in Tibet because of a renewed flood risk after a deadly mudslide in the China-Nepal border region, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

CCTV said a lake formed by large piles of debris had begun overflowing toward the area rescue teams were trying to reach. It said all rescue teams had been ordered to stand by and wait for further instructions, while emergency teams that had earlier accessed the area were told to withdraw one kilometre.

The lake formed after a wall of mud and debris hit the border hub of Gyirong on Wednesday. State media said hundreds of people remained missing two days after the disaster.

CCTV said water levels at the lake were expected to rise over the next three days because of continued rainfall, peaking around September 1. Xinhua reported late Thursday that this raised the risk of a breach that could send floodwaters downstream and potentially cause further damage in Gyirong Port and other downstream areas.

Emergency engineering teams were closely monitoring the situation, CCTV said. It also said rescue workers were using drone-based 3D modelling, thermal imaging and manual searches to find missing people.

CCTV said 499 Chinese nationals and 555 foreigners had been transported out of the disaster zone as of Friday.