A government team led by Defence Minister Manbir Rai has said that the unusual flooding incident that occurred in the Everest region on Friday was triggered after glacial lake outburst.

The swollen Thame river destroyed 20 houses, Thame elementary school along with a clinic and displaced 135 people in ward 5 of Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality in Solukhumbu District on Friday.

Defence Minister Rai on Saturday reached the affected area with a team comprising senior government officials, security officials and experts. After observing the condition of the flood-hit areas and the upstream through helicopter inspection, they concluded that the reason behind the flood was glacier outburst.

The officials found that two of the five lakes formed above the Thame village in the Everest region had burst and flooded downstream.

Chief District Officer of Solukhumbu, Devi Pandey, who was one of the members in the minister-led inspection team, said that two of the five lakes above the village burst on Friday. Two other lakes look potentially dangerous and may breach any time while the remaining one looks safe, according to her.

The Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality in its facebook page on Saturday said after the helicopter inspection it was now confirmed that the flood was triggered by the glacial lake outburst.