Death in Lamaland

While China suffered its worst floods in a century (TIME, Aug. 16), its satellite, Tibet, was suffering too. At the monastic trade center of Shigatse (pop. 20,000), second-biggest city in Tibet, midsummer torrents had turned the Nyang Chu River into a foaming cataract. Lake Takri Tsoma overflowed and a wall of water swept into Shigatse (altitude: 12,800 ft.). flooding shrines and drowning sacred statues. The flood undermined the ancient Palace of the Western Paradise, official residence of the 16-year-old Panchen Lama, whom 3,000,000 Tibetans accept as a spiritual reincarnation of the Buddha of Boundless Light. Reports reaching West Bengal last week reported that the palace collapsed, crushing scores of Buddhist monks in a welter of prayer wheels, holy vessels and ornamented battlements. One Red Chinese barracks, teeming with the Panchen Lama's Communist "bodyguards," reportedly fell apart. Estimated death toll: between 500 and 1,000.

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