Survey drones detected a landslide in the downstream area of the "Phurepchuang Zangbo" barrier lake on Saturday night (29 Aug.), and a new barrier lake is in the process of forming.
Chinese state media reported today (30 Aug.) that China's Ministry of Emergency Management has dispatched the Yuyuan Emergency Response Unit, along with reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles and heavy-lift drones, to monitor the situation of the Phurepchuang Zangbo barrier lake in Tibet. The deployment is a safety measure to protect rescue teams and aid workers responding to the mudslide disaster in Gyirong County, Shigatse City, in China's Tibet Autonomous Region.
During the survey operation on the night of 29 Aug., the drones discovered that a landslide had occurred in the downstream area approximately 2.8 kilometres from the Phurepchuang Zangbo barrier lake, resulting in a new mass of earth blocking the waterway and a new barrier lake beginning to form.
China's Ministry of Emergency Management urgently convened an expert meeting to assess and analyse the situation. At the same time, rescue personnel operating near the Gyirong border checkpoint on the China–Tibet border have been relocated to a safe area.
A mudslide that struck on Wednesday (26 Aug.) in Nepal created a barrier lake near the confluence of the Tsoylal River in Nepal and the Phurepchuang River in China.
A report by China Central Television (CCTV) on Saturday (29 Aug.) revealed that China's Ministry of Water Resources hydrology emergency response team had provided the latest update, stating that the previously formed Phurepchuang Zangbo barrier lake had almost entirely drained naturally.
