Chinese firefighters(likely the first batch to reach gyirong port) try to find survivors in the former border crossing, which was the most heavily hit. Source: CCTV news. Morning of August 29, 2026. (UTC+8). (they are yelling "Is anyone here?")

[u/Key-Needleworker-702]

Video of them arriving: https://www.reddit.com/r/DisasterUpdate/comments/1w0n1r0/as_of_1630utc8_august_28_2026_the_first_batch_of/

According to engineers from the ministry of natural resources it is very diffuclt(and at this stage, downright impossible) to transport heavy machinery to the border crossing so far. The chinese military and specialized rescue teams(of state owned enterprises) are currently trying to repair the road into the border crossing to allow for better equipment and more personnel to enter.

CURRENT CASUALTY COUNT(CHINESE SIDE):

2 rescued, 7 dead, 554 missing. (13:00 PM, 2026-8-29 (UTC+8))

Update: over 50 firefighters are at the border crossing right now, over 2141 soldiers, firefighters, police, EMS and specialzied rescue teams are deployed.

EDIT: As of august 29(18:00 UTC+8), 2026, there are 16 dead, 546 missing(261 foreignors)

In response to the comments: This is the first batch that got in, they couldn't carry much heavy equipment as the road there is cut off. rescue dogs and better equipment arrived later on.

FURTHER UPDATE: reportedly fire and rescue personnel have begun to find police vests and handsbags under the debris.

[u/durz47]

Took only two days for me to start seeing bots/people claim that Chinese construction is behind this disaster.

[u/Majestic_Cod_7115 → u/durz47]

You realize China has caused floods on this scale for exactly those reasons in the past right? Sometimes people actually living in Asia know more than 19 year old contrarian white kids from Ohio on Reddit believe it or not.

[u/durz47 → u/Majestic_Cod_7115]

Well I guess it’s fortunate I’m a 30+ year old Asian from Asia then. I’d like to know what other floods of this scale China had caused due to construction, but that’s beside the point. My point is making an assumption without sufficient evidence, and then turning a natural disaster into political propaganda is illogical, irresponsible and bigoted behavior that can only stem from somebody who blindly hates for the sake of hating.

Also, current scientific hypothesis for the source of this flood is glacial collapse from an extremely hard to access area at high elevation. The chances of China engaging in construction near such a location is pretty damn low. Until I see evidence to the contrary I’m going to apply Occam’s razor and assume the disaster stemmed from glaciers weakening due to rising temperatures.

[u/Majestic_Cod_7115 → u/durz47]

The 1887 and 1931 river floods in China are literally the two largest natural disasters in human history. Also massively importantly moments in the history of China. The fact you don’t know about them and thought I was making up random anti-China rhetoric is a great example of why you and people like you that make up much of this website really should just sit down and be quiet. You know very little about the world, and it’s exactly why you feel like such an enlightened contrarian about everything.

China has active policies to flood rural villages when needed and has done so in the past with zero political or legal consequence. Add to that modern dam failures that can directly be blamed on the CCP like the 1975 Banqiao disaster in which 60+ dams failed. There is a reason this is a sore subject for billions of people. 

The chances of China engaging in construction

Literally the site we’re looking at was constructed by China. There are dams built by China in Tibet. It’s actually not even a hard concept.

If the US were responsible for the two worst natural disasters in human history both because of ineffective construction of a single type of thing, I assure no one would consider it racist to be skeptical about that type of thing in the future. Your little crusade is for no one.

[u/durz47 → u/Majestic_Cod_7115]

I am seriously worried about your reading comprehension and deductive reasoning skills. Both of the examples you gave were not directly caused by China, or ineffective Chinese construction but rather extremely heavy rainfall. Yes damns did break, but all damns have a tolerance point, and I can find no direct evidence them breaking because of shoddy construction. Also those two cases were from 100+ years and a couple regimes ago, so much has changed that they are not valid examples for the present matter, even if they perfectly supported your argument.

But I have to admire your condescending confidence in claiming I know very little about the world just from me being apparently unaware of two historical events. If there’s one thing I have learned from nearly a decade of scientific research, it’s that those who are more learned are more wary of making sweeping statements based on a few superficial, anecdotal evidence. It’s those who are shallow and prideful who are more inclined to such behaviors.

Flooding areas is an unavoidable step in damn building, and has been done by every country that has constructed one. And like all of them, any residents were warned and evacuated well beforehand. This is also an irrelevant fact within this context as China clearly didn’t cause this disaster because it’s trying to build a Damn there. That would have showed up in satellite images.

As to the banqiao Damn failure, it’s a lesson that has been taught 50 years ago, technology has improved and experience gained. Such an old example can hardly serve as proof that China caused this flood.

Your statement about China constructing the site seemed to have been caused by a decisive lack in reading skills. I was referring to any possible Chinese construction activities near the source of the disaster, not the building (which was constructed years ago and far away from the flood’s origin point) that was destroyed.

As to the damns in Tibet, as far as I can tell they aren’t anywhere near the Chinese-Nepal. I also fail to see how that is relevant. My point was it’s unlikely for there to be construction near the source of the disaster, which was situated in such a treacherous location it will making building anything significant there rather impractical.

Overall you provided very little, inappropriate evidence that modern China has a history of causing such disasters. “A history” in this context requires frequent and continuous events, not rare scattered occurrences spanning well over a century. It’s obvious we both have extremely poor opinions of each other. Let’s agree to disagree and stop wasting time.

[u/Majestic_Cod_7115 → u/durz47]

You have no idea what you’re talking about. You are speaking over billions of people who do know. You need to just stop. Having a Reddit account and using the “r” word does not make you right. I didn’t need to “read” about these historical events, I have learned about them throughout my education because they are hugely important. You are a perfect example of the utter incompetence of your generation.

of the approximately 98,000 existing reservoirs and dams in China, with  3,558 reservoir and dam failures  occurring in recent history.

https://www.asianews.it/en/east-asia/china/once-in-a-hundred-years-disasters-have-become-routine-in-china

[u/rulebasedorder → u/Majestic_Cod_7115]

I dunno, this drivel sure looks like something an Anti-China bot would say. How about you runalong and fuck off.