Dramatic footage showing a torrent of water tearing through Gyirong Port, a main border crossing between Nepal and Tibet, has been widely circulated on social media and international news outlets. However, this footage has been largely absent from China's state-run media and heavily censored internet.
The flash flooding has claimed hundreds of lives, with a similar number of people still unaccounted for since Wednesday. China's state broadcaster has only shown a single still-frame shot of the events, and posts describing the flooding are difficult to find online within China.
Beijing has initiated a significant rescue operation involving hundreds of emergency workers, which is ongoing. President Xi Jinping chaired an emergency meeting with officials to coordinate these efforts. Premier Li Qiang also visited the region to inspect debris removal, a rare visit so soon after a major disaster.
Despite daily updates on the missing and dead, and information on rescue operations and the risks from a barrier lake, there is little further detail. Accounts from survivors in Tibet are absent, as is user-generated footage of the disaster or its aftermath. The International Campaign for Tibet has called on Chinese authorities to disclose complete and verifiable information, stating that Beijing has been removing first-hand information from social media.