Sixteen people have been confirmed dead and 546 others remain missing as of 18:00 Saturday after a devastating mudslide struck Gyirong Port on the China-Nepal border in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region on Wednesday, local authorities said Sunday.
The information office of the regional government held a a press conference on Sunday morning, briefing on the latest search and rescue operation following the cross-border mudslide triggered by a glacier collapse in Nepal. "On the morning of August 26, a mudslide on the Nepalese side caused significant casualties and left many people missing at Gyirong Port in Gyirong County, Xigaze City, Xizang. As of 18:00 on August 29, the disaster had resulted in 16 deaths and left 546 others still unaccounted for," said Gama Cedain, commander of the emergency rescue command center for the August 26 mudslide in Xizang.
At the press conference, a moment of silence was observed for those who perished in the disaster.
16 dead, 546 missing after mudslide hits border port in China's Xizang
Nepal has requested professional rescue support from China and other neighboring countries to help with complex operations for flood victims, Nepali Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said on Saturday.
On Wednesday, a massive high-altitude glacier collapse in Nepal triggered a catastrophic mudslide along its border with China, causing heavy casualties and left many people missing on both sides.
The glacier collapse also triggered a catastrophic flash flood in Nepal's Bhote Koshi River Wednesday morning, affecting three districts of Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading, officials said.
"As of today, over 4,451 people have been rescued from the region, including over 187 foreign nationals. So far, 626 bodies have been recovered from the area, and about 2,400 people are still unaccounted for," said Khanal.
He said the impact has been confined to particular regions of Nepal, and that tourist activities across most of the country are continuing.
"If Nepal would be unsafe to travel at this point -- I just wanted to highlight that Nepal is mostly open. (The) majority of our tourist destinations, including Kathmandu, Pokhara, Lumbini, Chitwan, Janakpur, mountain areas with very popular entrepreneur regions, and Everest (Qomolangma) regions -- almost all of these areas are open. This particular disaster has had an impact on a particular location of Nepal. And I just wanted to highlight this particularly to our international media friends," said Khanal.
He emphasized that the Nepali government has reached out to neighboring countries, including China, for rescue assistance.
"As operations continue, we have requested specific and specialized assistance from our friendly neighbors, where such support can further strengthen our search and rescue efforts in areas such as opening the tunnel where people have been trapped, technologies that help us locate people alive in affected areas, quick forensic and DNA analysis, and mortuaries to keep the bodies. An 11-member specialized technical reconnaissance team for tunnel rescue from India has been mobilized, and a tunnel rescue team from China is expected to arrive very soon," said Khanal.
Nepal seeks assistance from neighbors to bolster flood relief efforts
