Families of people missing after the Nepal-Tibet flood disaster say they are relying on information from the Nepal side of the border, foreign embassies and social media, as Tibetan advocacy groups report that information is suppressed in China.
Families turn to social media
Fan Hong, 31, from China's Sichuan province, last heard from her husband, Lin Bo, on the morning of the disaster. Lin was working on a Chinese highway project in Tibet, about 5 kilometres from the Gyirong border crossing. Unable to get information from authorities, Fan posted on Rednote, where her post has gained more than 18,000 likes and nearly 4,600 comments.
Lin began working on repairing the Syaphrubesi–Rasuwagadhi Highway, which links Nepal to Tibet through the Gyirong border crossing, in 2024. He was living on site and working on a 16km stretch of the road.
Rescue efforts stall
Fan says rescue missions into the construction site have stalled. Relatives of survivors are asking Chinese authorities for permission to send their own drones or helicopters to look for the missing. “I feel more disheartened with each passing day. Feel colder and colder inside,” she told the Guardian. “I don't even have any tears left.”
It is just over a week since the collapse of a glacier triggered devastating floods along the Nepal-Tibet border, destroying entire villages and killing more than 1,200 people. On Wednesday, 4,216 remained missing, according to Nepal officials. Chinese authorities say 541 remain unaccounted for on the Tibetan side, including 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries.
Official narrative and restrictions
In China, the official narrative heavily focuses on rescue efforts. On Douyin, China's version of TikTok, photographs of missing customs officers are shared under the hashtag “Salute to heroes guarding the nation's gateway”. On 30 August, Tibetan police reported that 10 people had been punished for spreading what authorities called “false information” about the scale of the disaster online.
“This crackdown is obstructing not just public reporting of the disaster and relief efforts but the basic work of establishing whether communities are alive and receiving the support that they need,” said Tencho Gyatso, president of the US-based Tibetan advocacy group the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT). “Sources are now afraid to speak to outside groups including ICT. One source told ICT it was 'extremely unsafe' to speak. Another asked us not to make further contact given the potential ramifications.”
Families of foreign nationals wait
British nationals Sridhar Avvari, 43, his wife Deepti, 41, and their 14-year-old son Abhinav went missing near the immigration area at Gyirong on 26 August, close to the Nepal-Tibet border. The family lives in India, and relatives believe they went over to the Tibetan side. In a call to the family days earlier, Deepti told them there would be no signal but would talk when she returned to an area with network activity. After the flash flood, calls to Deepti's phone stopped connecting.
“There was no signal, so we can't talk … After coming down, I will call you again,” Deepti told Priyanka Rapaka, her sister-in-law. “We didn't get any information from China … We are checking online only who are rescued and… how many are dead,” Rapaka said.
Naresh Goyal is waiting for news about his sister, Neetu Goyal Tiwari, a 51-year-old missing British national who flew from India to Kathmandu on 14 August to join an Isha Foundation pilgrimage. “The last message received is that they have reached Gyirong immigration office. They said they are going to check out.” He found his sister's name on a list of missing people circulating on social media, but is unsure where the list originated. “Whenever we ask the China government, they are telling us that they will update us through the embassy of the UK,” he says. “It is very painful here Now we have spent at least seven days and every minute we are waiting.”
Chinese authorities say they are now able to reach the main disaster zone by road. According to state media, they are describing the region as an active search and rescue operation and are searching for hundreds of missing people.
