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Death Toll Nears 500 After Catastrophic Glacial Collapse and Floods Hit Nepal and Tibet

morning · · thread: Extreme Rainfall and Flooding Cause Widespread Devastation Across Asia

36 sources across 22 countries · 1 of them is linked to a state

Who reported this

  • Der Spiegel Germany · Centre-left · ~50% staff-owned
  • Sueddeutsche Zeitung Germany · Centre-left · Sudwestdeutsche Medien Holding
  • Deutsche Welle Germany · Centre · Public · German federal public-law corporation
  • Frankfurter Allgemeine Germany · Centre-right · FAZIT-Stiftung (foundation)
  • Scroll.in India · Left · Scroll Media Inc, reader-funded
  • The Hindu India · Centre-left · Kasturi & Sons (family-owned)
  • The Indian Express India · Centre · Indian Express Group (Goenka family)
  • Hindustan Times India · Centre-right · HT Media (KK Birla group)
  • The Guardian United Kingdom · Centre-left · Scott Trust Limited
  • The Independent United Kingdom · Centre-left · Sultan Muhammad Abuljadayel and Evgeny Lebedev
  • BBC News United Kingdom · Centre · Public · Licence fee, royal charter
  • Reuters United Kingdom · Centre · Thomson Reuters Corporation
  • G1 Brazil · Centre-left · Grupo Globo (Marinho family)
  • CNN Brasil Brazil · Centre · Rubens Menin (MRV)
  • Folha de S.Paulo Brazil · Centre · Grupo Folha (Frias family)
  • Le Monde France · Centre-left · Fonds pour l'independance de la presse
  • France 24 France · Centre · Public · France Medias Monde (French state holding)
  • Kyodo News Japan · Centre · Non-profit publisher cooperative
  • The Japan Times Japan · Centre · News2u Holdings
  • CNN United States · Centre-left · Warner Bros. Discovery
  • Wall Street Journal United States · Centre-right · News Corp (Murdoch family trust)
  • Infobae Argentina · Centre-right · Daniel Hadad
  • The Daily Star Bangladesh · Centre · Mediaworld Ltd
  • La Tercera Chile · Centre-right · Copesa (Saieh family)
  • South China Morning Post Hong Kong · Centre-right · Alibaba Group
  • Telex Hungary · Centre · Reader-funded, staff-owned
  • The Jakarta Post Indonesia · Centre-left · PT Bina Media Tenggara
  • Corriere della Sera Italy · Centre-right · RCS MediaGroup (Cairo Communication)
  • NRC Netherlands · Centre · Mediahuis
  • Aftenposten Norway · Centre-right · Schibsted, Tinius Trust foundation
  • Philippine Daily Inquirer Philippines · Centre · Prieto family
  • Al Jazeera Qatar · Centre-left · State-affiliated · Qatari government funded
  • Daily Maverick South Africa · Centre-left · Reader-funded
  • The Korea Herald South Korea · Centre-right · Herald Corporation (Yeongpoong Group)
  • El Pais Spain · Centre-left · Grupo PRISA
  • Taipei Times Taiwan · Centre-left · Liberty Times Group

What the colours mean

  • Left
  • Centre-left
  • Centre
  • Centre-right
  • Right
  • A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.

Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.

Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.

The owner of each outlet is listed as a matter of record, not as a judgement about the outlet.

At least 472 people have died and over 1,400 remain missing following catastrophic flash floods and mudslides that struck the border region between Nepal and Tibet on Wednesday. Nepali authorities confirmed 469 deaths, while Chinese authorities reported three deaths. The disaster was triggered by a massive glacial collapse that sent a torrent of ice, rock, and debris downstream. The U.S. Geological Survey reported a magnitude 5.2 seismic event caused by the collapse, which initially led authorities to believe an earthquake had occurred. The resulting surge caused river levels to rise by as much as 9 meters in 30 minutes, obliterating villages, bridges, and hydropower projects.

Rescue operations are ongoing, though they are complicated by the destruction of 40 kilometers of roads and 19 bridges. The Nepali army has used helicopters to rescue 350 people trapped in a hydropower project tunnel, though some reports indicate approximately 100 people remained trapped as of Thursday. The missing include hundreds of foreign nationals, including citizens from India, the United States, Great Britain, Australia, and Germany. Many of the victims were pilgrims traveling to the sacred Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar in Tibet.

Further danger persists as debris has formed barrier lakes on both sides of the border. Authorities in Nepal and China have warned that these lakes are rising and could burst, potentially triggering secondary floods. In response to the disaster, China has temporarily suspended permits for access to the border areas of Shigatse in Tibet to maintain order and facilitate rescue operations. India has provided humanitarian assistance, including 37.5 tonnes of relief materials.

Scientific perspectives on the cause vary. Some researchers suggest the event is a result of the warming Himalayas and melting permafrost, which increases the frequency of glacial lake outburst floods. While some experts caution that it is too early to draw a direct link to global warming for this specific event, others argue that rising temperatures have made such disasters the new normal for the region.

How each side framed it

Left
Focused on the international humanitarian response and the specific impact on Indian nationals.
Centre-left
Emphasized the human tragedy, the vulnerability of the region, and the long term risks posed by climate change.
Centre
Focused on the immediate rescue efforts, the death toll, and the geological cause of the disaster.
Centre-right
Highlighted the geopolitical implications, such as China's border restrictions and the reconstruction challenges for the Nepali government.

Sources

100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.