Access to the Tibetan side is restricted, foreign journalists face serious limitations and citizen footage is being removed from Chinese platforms.

Access to the Tibetan side is restricted, foreign journalists face serious limitations and citizen footage is being removed from Chinese platforms.

A river does not respect a border, but a censor does. That contradiction sits at the heart of the catastrophe unfolding along the Nepal-Tibet frontier, where a glacier collapse on August 26 sent a massive surge of mud, rock and water through the Lhende Khola and into the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river systems.

The destruction has been staggering. By August 28, Nepal had reported 579 deaths, with nearly 1,924 people still missing. On the Chinese side, five deaths and 558 missing people were officially reported in Tibet’s Gyirong County, including 260 foreign nationals. Ten bodies were also recovered from rivers in northern India.

But the numbers tell only part of the story. The other part is increasingly about what China does not want people to see.

A Disaster, Then a Digital Cleanup

Within hours of the disaster, videos from the Chinese side began circulating on Chinese social-media platforms. Security footage showed a wall of mud and debris crashing over buildings at Gyirong Port as people ran for their lives. The location and footage were subsequently verified by international media.

Then the videos started disappearing.

Bhutanese journalist Tenzing Lamsang highlighted the removal of flood footage from Chinese platforms, stressing that this was not political protest or anti-government activity. It was disaster footage.

China starts censoring flood videos on its social media.This is not some political protest or ‘anti-govt’ activity. By contrast Nepal has been transparent on its side & there is help & sympathy pouring in & healing will also start. On the Chinese side propaganda & censorship. https://t.co/CRI6k2VHE2 — Tenzing Lamsang (@TenzingLamsang) August 27, 2026

China starts censoring flood videos on its social media.This is not some political protest or ‘anti-govt’ activity.

By contrast........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)