00:03A devastating flash flood has ripped through areas along the Nepal-China border, leaving at least 172 people dead and
00:13many others missing.
00:15The disaster struck with extraordinary speed. Huge volumes of water, ice, rock and debris surge downstream,
00:24destroying infrastructure and sweeping through communities in Nepal's Rasuwa district.
00:30The scale of the destruction has now triggered a major question.
00:35Could an earlier warning from China have saved lives downstream?
00:40The disaster originated near the sensitive border region around Giran and Rasuwa Gadi,
00:46and because the affected area includes Chinese territory and major border facilities,
00:52attention has quickly turned toward Beijing's monitoring and warning capabilities.
00:58The Chinese embassy in Nepal has now issued a direct response.
01:03Beijing says claims that a geological disaster dam collapsed on the Chinese side and caused major losses in Nepal are
01:12false.
01:13According to the Chinese statement, an earthquake or an earthquake-like glacier collapse occurred on the Nepali side of the
01:21border.
01:21China says that event triggered enormous mudslides, causing casualties and people to go missing on both sides of the Girang
01:30-Rasuwa Gadi region.
01:32Beijing insists that accusations will not help.
01:36Nepali officials and experts say the speed and scale of the flood caught communities completely off-guard,
01:42and they argued that stronger cross-border monitoring and early warning systems could be critical in preventing another catastrophe.
01:51So what actually triggered the flood?
01:54Experts at the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development, or ICIMOD, believe an avalanche from a glacier was likely responsible.
02:04Nepal's disaster authorities say snow and rock broke away near the glacier zone close to the Nepal-China border.
02:12That material may have fallen into a glacial lake.
02:16Another possibility is that it temporarily blocked a river channel.
02:19Either scenario could have created a sudden surge.
02:24Water mixed with melting ice, rocks and enormous quantities of debris then rushed down the Lende Cola into the Bote
02:32-Koshi River.
02:34Former National Planning Commission Vice Chair Dr. Govind Raj Pokreo says the disaster exposed a dangerous weakness.
02:42He believes China, with its advanced satellite and monitoring technology, could potentially have detected signs of the developing disaster.
02:52Pokreo said information could then have been relayed to the Nepali side.
02:56But that did not happen in a way that protected communities downstream.
03:01The situation was especially dangerous because people were not expecting a major flood.
03:07The disaster is also reviving concerns about glacial lake outburst floods, commonly known as GLAFs.
03:15These events can release enormous volumes of water when unstable glacial lakes suddenly overflow or collapse.
03:23And the Himalayan region is particularly vulnerable.
03:27Nepali experts say the border area is becoming even more sensitive as climate change affects glaciers and high-altitude environments.
03:35There is reportedly already an understanding between Nepal and China to share information about GLAFs and other disasters,
03:43but experts now want that cooperation strengthened.
03:47China itself was also hit hard.
03:51Chinese state-controlled media reported a mudslide near Girong Port with people feared missing.
03:57Roads leading to the port were cut off. Communications and power supplies were also disrupted.
04:03The same border crossing is strategically important because Girong Port connects China with Nepal through one of the region's major
04:11land routes.
04:13This means the disaster was not simply a Nepalese tragedy.
04:17Communities and infrastructure on both sides were exposed.
04:23China and a2018 workers were also exposed.
04:28China'sfurters on both sides and the hanapes and drears.
04:28China's a very worse.
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04:38China's a very blessed neighborhood and a huge debt.
04:39China's a very nice world with all the land, China's a very active system.
04:41China's a very cool thing...
04:43China's a very good place to be able to move towards the river, China is anume, China's a very core
04:49system.
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