Some of the most dramatic footage associated with deadly flash flooding in Tibet is being kept out of public view in China, leaving major gaps in what is known about the disaster and those affected.
The flooding has been described as fatal, but the available source material provides only limited detail about the scale of the incident, the precise location affected, the timing of the floods or the number of people killed or injured.
The absence of publicly visible footage in China is significant because video from disaster scenes can help establish the extent of damage, the speed of flooding and the impact on local communities. In this case, the material said to show the most striking scenes is not being shown to the Chinese public.
Little is also known about the victims. The available reporting does not identify those who died, provide details about their communities or set out whether further people remain missing or displaced.
No official response, rescue update or explanation for the restricted visibility of the footage is included in the supplied material. The latest known position is that deadly flash floods have occurred in Tibet, some dramatic footage is not publicly available in China, and key information about the victims remains unclear.
