CCTV footage shows deadly flood destroying Nepal-China border crossing

Some social media users falsely claimed the video was AI-generated. Published Aug. 28, 2026 Claim: CCTV footage from Aug. 26, 2026, authentically shows a deadly flood destroying the Gyirong Port, a Nepal-China border crossing. Rating: ContextSnopes found no evidence the footage was artificially generated or doctored, and reputable news outlets such as The Associated Press also deemed the footage authentic. Drone footage taken in the aftermath confirmed the structure was pulverized. Our search for the exact source of the original CCTV footage remains in progress as of this writing. Editor's note: Some of the videos linked and embedded in this article contain imagery that may be upsetting to readers. As rescuers raced to find survivors of a deadly landslide and flash flood in Nepal on Aug. 26, 2026, that according to CBS News killed almost 600 people and left roughly 2,500 missing as of this report, footage emerged online purportedly showing the moment floodwaters destroyed a Nepal-China border crossing. The clip spread across multiple social media sites, including X, Facebook and Reddit. It showed the flood cascading down a valley as dozens of people attempted to flee, eventually crashing onto the border port — a large gate over the road passage — before obliterating the entire scene as mud flooded the screen. As climate change intensifies, melting glaciers — such as those found in the Himalayas — can cause this scale of catastrophic flooding. Several commenters on one X post (archived) that had more than 13 million views claimed the footage was AI-generated, and dozens of Snopes readers searched the site for information related to videos of the flooding. (X user @iNikhilsaini.) As reported by The Associated Press and other reputable news outlets, the clip was authentic CCTV footage.The structure pictured was Tibet's Gyirong Port, a land crossing between Nepal and China that was pulverized in the flooding. Therefore we've rated this claim true. The footage the AP published featured a watermark in the upper right corner for the Annapurna Post, a Nepali news outlet that posted the footage on Aug. 26 (archived). It was captioned (translation via DeepL): How terrible was the flood? CCTV footage from the immigration office on the Chinese side of the Rasuwagadhi border crossing. The time shown in the footage is Chinese time. At that time, it was around 9 o'clock in Nepal. Our search for the exact source of the original CCTV footage remains in progress. We contacted the Annapurna Post seeking further information and will update this story if we receive a response. The Annapurna Post's footage showed no evidence of AI generation or digital editing. The border crossing had only recently reopened in January 2026 after flood damage in 2025. Though images of the port before the 2025 flooding appear slightly different from the CCTV footage, an April 2026 image of the structure uploaded by a Flickr user appears the same, indicating the CCTV footage is authentic. If it were AI-generated, it would likely contain visual inconsistencies. (Photos courtesy of the Annapurna Post and Flickr user @findingtodd) As several social media users pointed out, flooding of the severity seen in the CCTV footage likely left little of the structure behind. Post-flood aerial footage captured by Chinese state news agency Xinhua and other images on social media show the valley where the flood swept the structure away is almost devoid of any sign the gate once stood there. The angle of the camera that captured the CCTV footage appears to approximately be at the coordinates 28°16'51.2"N 85°22'40.6"E on Google Maps. Sources New item…New item…Annapurna Post. Annapurna Post Facebook Page. 26 Aug. 2026, https://www.facebook.com/reel/1552643429217959.'Google Maps'. Google Maps, https://www.google.com/maps/place//@28.2802568,85.37749,282m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!1m5!3m4!2zMjjCsDE2JzUxLjIiTiA4NcKwMjInNDAuNiJF!8m2!3d28.2808889!4d85.3779444?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDgyNC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D. Accessed 27 Aug. 2026.Gyirong Port Introduction| Location, Transportation, Accommodation, Attractions. https://www.tibetdiscovery.com/tibet-ports/gyirong-port/. Accessed 27 Aug. 2026.Important Notice: Intermittent Control of Roads in the Gyirong Port Area! https://www.tibettourism.com/gyirong-port-intermittent-control.html. Accessed 27 Aug. 2026.Lee, Liz, et al. 'Hundreds Missing after Flood Hits Nepal-Tibet Border, 157 Bodies Recovered'. Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/nepal-flash-flood-washes-away-villages-project-sites-near-tibet-border-2026-08-26/.Shrestha, Niranjan, and SHRISTI KAFLE Leer en español. 'Catastrophic Floods Kill over 390 in Nepal and Tibet, with More than 1,400 Missing'. AP News, 27 Aug. 2026, https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-nepal-tibet-glacier-collapse-floods-61b592d428e4631add31ce052d0daf1f.'Think It's Hot Now? The next Five Years Will Smash Records, UN Says'. AP News, 28 May 2026, https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-warming-heat-wave-record-future-53d79525a06f09d9ace45a141dbebb01.- YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCanRmchkL0. Accessed 27 Aug. 2026.中国新闻网. English: China Gyirong Port of Entry Building. 5 Aug. 2019, Video screenshot at timestamp 1:03 of YouTube: 西藏吉隆口岸 记录时代的变迁 – View/save archived versions on archive.org. Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:China_Gyirong_Port_of_Entry_building.png. By Taija PerryCook Taija PerryCook is a Seattle-based journalist who previously worked for the PNW news site Crosscut and the Jordan Times in Amman. Article Tags