Striking new footage has captured the moment hikers watched a massive glacier give way in the Himalayas, setting off the deadly flash floods and mudslides that tore through parts of Nepal and Tibet.
The video, recorded by a Chinese tour guide in Tibet, shows enormous slabs of ice shearing off a ridge on Langtang Lirung peak, which lies on the Nepali side of the border.
Witnesses said they heard a thunderous crack moments before ice, rock and debris crashed into the valley below, throwing up a vast cloud of dust.
The collapse set off a landslide that created a lake in the valley, before a powerful surge of water and debris rushed through the mountain river system toward the Gyirong border crossing.
A second clip shows debris hurtling down the mountainside in the immediate aftermath, marking the start of a disaster that would go on to devastate communities farther downstream.
The footage, obtained and verified by The New York Times, offers one of the clearest looks so far at the August 26 glacier collapse.
New footage shows hikers witnessing a massive glacier collapse in the Himalayas
Filmed by a Chinese tour guide in Tibet, the video captures huge chunks of ice breaking from a ridge on Langtang Lirung peak on the Nepali side of the border
Hikers reported hearing a huge crack before ice, rock and debris plunged into the valley below, sending an enormous cloud of dust billowing into the air
The death toll from the disaster has now risen to 676, with nearly 3,000 people still missing across Nepal and Tibet.
This includes more than 500 foreign tourists, 33 of whom are known to be British. Many foreign nationals are feared to have been in the vicinity of Rasuwagadhi, taking holy pilgrimages or embarking on trekking expeditions.
Search and rescue operations resumed on Saturday after being temporarily suspended because of rain and fog, with helicopters returning to the worst-hit areas as weather conditions improved.
A UK rapid deployment team arrived in Nepal on Saturday to support British nationals and their families.
Authorities are also monitoring two lakes upstream of the flood zone, with officials warning that the risk of further flooding will remain until both have fully drained.
Satellite images taken since the ‘tsunami from the sky’ swept through remote areas of the country and neighbouring Tibet depict entire settlements simply disappearing.
Rasuwagadhi border crossing, located at one end of Friendship Bridge on the border between Nepal and Tibet, was finally reached by a team of rescuers on Friday and was found to have been annihilated.
Last night, fresh satellite images brought home the scale of the damage, showing entire settlements have completely vanished, washed away by the raging torrent of mud and water which descended along the Trishuli River on Wednesday.
The Gyirong region crossing, a crucial landmark for pilgrims seeking access to the Langtang valley and tourists out trekking, saw some of the first, and most distressing, footage of the flood to be captured.
CCTV footage saw people fleeing before the water and mud completely engulfed the large building.
Rasuwagadhi border crossing, located at one end of Friendship Bridge on the border between Nepal and Tibet, is pictured in April 2024
A man takes pictures in front of damaged buildings after flash floods and a mudslide, in Trishuli
Scores of men in orange hi-vis jackets and hard hats fled in terror as they watched the mass of water rush at them
Nepalese Army personnel rescue a survivor from a hydropower tunnel in Rasuwa district on Friday
The crossing has now gone, along with its large rear car park, Friendship Bridge and all associated buildings – just the river and surrounding greenery remain, as if it was never there.
A Chinese rescue team was the first to reach the obliterated landscape at the crossing yesterday, and said they found ‘nothing but ruins’.
State media reported that the Chinese team of 21 rescuers and a search-and-rescue dog arrived at Rasuwagadhi yesterday.
‘There was no road … it was all virgin forest and sheer cliffs,’ rescue worker Zou Mingqi said. At the complex, ‘as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but ruins’.
The team had to use ropes to cross forests and valleys to reach the area, thought to be among the worst affected.
The crossing is one site where many of the missing tourists are feared to have been. British care agency boss Leena Bector, 53, from Slough, Berkshire, was last heard from just an hour away from the site.
Other images show bridges crossing the Trishuli river wiped out, along with the small settlements and industries on either side.
Some depict the village of Syapru Besi, with prior photos suggesting a vibrant, sprawling community nestled around a fork in the river.
Images taken after the flood had rampaged through the area show much of the village washed away.
Just a fraction of the houses were spared, mostly those nestled further away from the river along a narrow road rising into the mountains.
A bed of mud and silt can be seen left behind, showing how far beyond its usual banks the torrent flowed.
A bridge, which appears to be located just to the south of the village, has also completely been destroyed.
And construction sites, camping areas and footbridges have all similarly been affected. Some of those set back from the river have survived, but the landscape around them has not, with huge areas of trees and forest disappearing compared to images taken previously.
