Missing, Uncounted, Unseen: The Hidden Toll of Tibet’s Floods
By Tenzin Chokyi
DHARAMSALA, 31 August: The toll from last week’s devastating floods in Tibet’s Kyirong region appears to be significantly higher than figures released by Chinese authorities, according to new information gathered by the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), amid growing concerns over Beijing’s restrictions on information from the disaster zone.
Chinese authorities have reported 16 deaths and 546 people missing on the Tibetan side of the Nepal-Tibet border, including 261 foreign citizens, while ICT sources report widespread destruction and many people still unaccounted for.
Tencho Gyatso, president of the ICT, told The Guardian: “What is visible in Nepal exposes what is being concealed in Tibet.” She said four Tibetan villages — Sale, Serchung, Labi and Rizi — were among the hardest hit, with approximately 300 homes reportedly destroyed and many people still missing.
Gyatso said the “little information that we can gather from the ground” suggested that the number of people affected was “far higher” than Chinese officials had reported.
ICT said its sources inside Tibet have confirmed that videos and other firsthand documentation of the disaster uploaded to Chinese social media platforms are being removed, raising concerns about deliberate efforts to control information about the scale of the catastrophe.
An ICT source in the Kyirong region told the organisation that major flooding in the border region destroyed Tibetan-owned shops, restaurants and teahouses and reportedly caused numerous casualties.
With independent access to Kyirong severely restricted, the full extent of the deaths, those still unaccounted for, and the destruction on the Tibetan side remains impossible to independently verify.
The disaster on 26 August caused catastrophic flooding in Nepal’s Rasuwa district and surrounding areas, as well as severe flooding in Kyirong, in occupied Tibet. In Nepal, the death toll has risen to 903, with 4,247 people still reported missing, according to the latest figures from Nepalese authorities.
The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) had earlier reported extensive damage to Tibetan communities in Nepal. At Rasuwa Gegayling Settlement, all 11 households were swept away, with two elderly residents reported missing. At Shabru Market, two homes were destroyed, leaving one person dead and three missing, while six people from two Tibetan households in Timure were reported missing.
ICT is calling on Chinese authorities to disclose complete and verifiable information about casualties and damage, permit independent reporting, and ensure unhindered humanitarian access to affected areas on the Tibetan side of the border.
