China and Nepal both warned on Thursday of fresh risks of flooding in the Himalayas as two lakes that have developed on either side of their border threaten to burst, in an area still grappling with this week's catastrophic flood.

Search and rescue operations are still underway in the debris-strewn valleys and hillsides.

Both countries have blamed the flood on a glacier collapse that pushed rock, ice, mud and debris into river systems in the mountains.

Guo Zhaocheng, an expert with the Ministry of Natural Resources said the mudslide was triggered by a glacier collapse on the Nepalese side at a higher elevation.

The collapse sent masses of debris rapidly downhill, which swept up moraine material along the way to form a mudslide that struck Gyirong Port in Xizang Autonomous Region before moving downstream toward Nepal, Guo said.

China warned that 3 million cubic metres of water – the equivalent of about 1,200 Olympic swimming pools – are expected to flow ⁠into an already dammed lake on its side of the border over the next three days, creating a high risk of a breach, with peak flow expected around September 1.

Rainfall forecast over the coming week will worsen the threat, media reports said, citing the Ministry of Water Resources.

"The volume of water is continuing to increase, and so is the risk," Zhu Jinfeng, a researcher at the water resources ministry's ⁠hydrology department, told broadcaster CCTV.

Nepal's disaster authority issued a notice on Thursday warning ⁠that a lake formed by debris blocking a river ⁠at the flood site is rising ⁠and at risk of bursting.

Heeding the warning, some rescue workers in Nepal began moving towards higher ground on Thursday.

Among them was Pawan Koirala, who began moving away from the river bed along with his team of 13 after the warning was issued.

"We are here for rescue and don't want to be near the danger zone," he said. (Reuters/Xinhua)


Edited by Aaron Tam