Chinese authorities said today that the risk of a lake formed after a glacier collapse bursting near the China-Nepal border has decreased, as its size appears to have shrunk. The lake is located in the area where a devastating flood occurred earlier this week.
Satellite images from Thursday morning suggest that water in the lake – which straddles the China-Nepal border at the confluence of two rivers – has been slowly flowing through, gradually decreasing the reservoir, state broadcaster CCTV reported, citing the Water Resources Ministry.
Lake Surface Area Shrinks by 21,000 Square Metres
The ministry said satellite imagery of the surface area of the lake at the Purepu Tsangpo river showed it was 99,000 square metres in size this morning – roughly the size of 14 football fields combined – having shrunk by 21,000 square metres compared with images from Thursday.
Experts and authorities have warned of the extremely high risk of secondary disasters in the valley, especially from the lake that was formed by glacier debris, potentially endangering rescue operations downstream.
Monitoring and Reconnaissance Efforts Continue
State-owned engineering and rescue enterprise China Anneng, which has been monitoring the lake since Thursday, dispatched a 15-member team on Friday with reconnaissance drones, portable satellite stations, and mobile surveillance cameras to gather more data about the lake.
An overflow from the lake on Friday temporarily halted rescue work before further assessment deemed the risks manageable.
