The 45th Chinese naval escort taskforce wrapped up a five-fay goodwill visit to Madagascar on Sunday and headed for its next stop in Seychelles, on its way home following fulfillment of its escort mission in the Gulf of Eden and waters off Somalia.
At 15:00 local time, the guided-missile destroyer Urumqi, the guided-missile frigate Linyi, and the comprehensive replenishment vessel Dongpinghu of the fleet set off one after another from the port of Toamasina.
The Chinese Embassy in Madagascar held a farewell ceremony for the fleet at the pier. Madagascar military leaders, Chinese embassy staff, and overseas Chinese had waited there to see them off.
The Chinese and Madagascar sides carried out a series of exchange activities during the five-day span. The taskforce came to the Tamatave School for Overseas Chinese and brought the teachers and students school supplies and daily necessities. The students also staged performances with Chinese elements.
When docking at the Port of Toamasina, the fleet also invited members of the public to come aboard. Nearly a thousand people, including teachers and students from the local Confucius Institute and School for Overseas Chinese, as well as military officers and soldiers of Madagascar and their family members, had an opportunity to tour on board the three ships and had cordial conversations with Chinese soldiers.
"Today I was honored to have the opportunity to board the ship. I am very happy, and I think the Chinese people and Chinese soldiers are great," said Liang Jiaming, a Confucius Institute student.
In early March, the 45th Chinese naval escort taskforce completed escort tasks for 72 Chinese and foreign vessels in 43 batches in the Gulf of Eden, and provided security guard for 14 transiting merchant ships, demonstrating the role of China as a responsible major power.
The 46th Chinese naval escort taskforce has formally taken over the escort mission from the 45th escort taskforce on March 4, and has proceeded with the escort tasks in the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia.
Chinese naval escort fleet concludes goodwill visit to Madagascar
Rescue operations have been halted at mudslide-hit Gyirong Port in Gyirong County, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, over a potentially catastrophic barrier-lake breach that threatens to trigger secondary floods and mudslides.
At around 10:30 on Wednesday, a catastrophic mudslide on Nepal's side of the border caused heavy casualties and left a large number of people missing at the border port.
As of 15:00 on Friday, five people had been confirmed dead, and 558 remained missing, according to data from Chinese authorities.
Multiple rescue forces were dispatched to the disaster-hit area immediately after the mudslide. Armed police troops tasked with road clearance advanced to a section of the G216 National Highway, about two to three kilometers away from Gyirong Port, on Friday morning.
However, all rescue operations were suspended because a barrier lake formed after the devastating mudslide poses a high risk of breaching as water continues to flow in.
Aerial footage showed the dangerous barrier lake near the confluence of the Chhochen Khola and Purepu Tsangpo rivers, with its water volume estimated at 2.5 million cubic meters. Loose, sliding rock masses are visible on both banks.
"My current location is 2.5 kilometers from the Gyirong Port. This area was severely blocked by the mudslide on the previous day. We had originally planned to begin dredging operations today for search and rescue. However, due to flood alerts for the Donglin Zangbo River and the potential risk of a further barrier lake breach, we have suspended all on-site operations to conduct further assessments," said Xu Xingguo, a soldier from a border defense regiment.
Before suspending operations, local authorities completed comprehensive emergency evacuation and resettlement work. A total of 499 villagers and construction personnel from five disaster-threatened villages in Xigaze have been safely relocated.
In addition, all 555 tourists previously staying in Gyirong Town have been evacuated.
A full range of emergency supplies has also been delivered to Gyirong Town to support disaster relief and ensure basic living conditions for the affected people. The supplies include staple foods such as highland barley, rice and flour, cooking oil and drinking water, as well as tents, folding beds, quilts, stoves, generators and other disaster-rescue equipment and daily necessities.
To support post-disaster relief and assistance, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions has allocated 4 million yuan (around 595,260 U.S. dollars) in emergency funds to console affected residents, frontline rescuers and workers, and to support ongoing rescue operations and post-disaster recovery work.
Rescue operations halted at Xizang's Gyirong Port over barrier lake breach risk
