Rescuers are racing to clear roads leading to the mudslide-hit border port of Gyirong in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, paving the way for more personnel to reach the core disaster zone and save lives.
As of 14:00 Friday, heavy machinery was operating about 1.8 kilometers from the port, with excavators and bulldozers carving through thick silt while heavy-duty trucks transported batteries to support rescue operations. Multiple units were coordinating intensive relief efforts.
Rescue workers said that although the area was not far from the port in a straight line, the winding valley was full of S-shaped bends.
Drone reconnaissance indicated that at least six more such curves lay ahead, suggesting that the total stretch of road still needing to be cleared exceeded three kilometers. Moreover, initial assessments showed that mud and sediment had accumulated to a depth of more than 2.5 meters.
"The main priority is to clear the road as far as possible toward the border port. We've advanced about another 500 meters today since yesterday," said Norbu Tsering, who leads the disaster frontline command and is also acting mayor of Xigaze.
Tsering said the mix of rocks, sand and soil, combined with the confined working space, was complicating the road-clearing operation.
"The difficulty lies entirely in the debris, which is a mix of rocks, sand and soil with extremely high moisture content. Every meter we advance is a huge challenge. The key problem is that we can't open up the work area. As you can see, the space is very narrow. We have ample rescue personnel and resources, but there simply isn't enough room to deploy them. We have more than a dozen excavators and more than a dozen bulldozers operating here, but the space is too tight. We must clear the road in a safe and orderly manner," he said.
So far, the road-clearing work has been carried out by different task groups. Drones have been deployed to conduct aerial surveys, helping determine the direction of the clearing operation. Meanwhile, excavators have been carving out initial corridors, followed by bulldozers gradually widening the path to allow more rescue teams to move forward.
At about 16:30 on Friday, the first six-member team from the Xizang Fire and Rescue Corps and the first 15-member team, accompanied by a search dog, from the Sichuan Fire and Rescue Corps arrived at the disaster-hit port. They were the first professional rescue teams to reach the core rescue area, the National Fire and Rescue Administration said.
Rescuers race to clear road to Xizang's Gyirong Port after mudslide
