A barrier lake formed near the Nepal-China border after last week’s massive ice-rock avalanche has fully drained through natural outflow, China’s Ministry of Water Resources said on Sunday, easing fears of another sudden flood downstream.

The lake had formed near the confluence of Nepal’s Chhochen Khola and China’s Purepu Tsangpo following Wednesday’s glacier collapse on the northern face of Langtang Ri, which triggered a devastating flood in the Bhotekoshi river system.

Citing the ministry, China Daily reported that around 2 million cubic metres of water had accumulated behind the blockage. The ministry’s hydrological emergency monitoring team said water was now flowing normally through natural channels and the impounded water had been almost completely discharged.

Nepali scientist Nitesh Khadka, who works at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Chengdu, also shared photographs sent by colleagues showing that the lower barrier lake had drained. He said more than half the water in an upper lake had also flowed out.

The development comes as river levels rose again in the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli river systems on Sunday, raising fresh concerns in areas already devastated by Wednesday’s disaster.

The swollen Trishuli river has eroded riverbanks in Nuwakot and Dhading districts. Flood-induced erosion and a subsequent landslide at Krishnabhir in Dhading have completely blocked the Muglin-Kathmandu section of the Prithvi Highway.

Floodwaters also swept away a suspension bridge over the Trishuli river linking Ghyachok in Gorkha with Charaudi in Dhading on Sunday.

Chinese authorities had earlier warned that the barrier lake posed a high risk of breaching, with continued rainfall expected to increase the volume of water behind the natural dam. Satellite monitoring later showed that the lake had begun draining gradually, reducing the immediate threat.