Nepal seeks assistance from neighbors to bolster flood relief efforts

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

Rescue teams are battling waist-deep mud and treacherous terrain in a race against time to search for survivors following a devastating mudslide at the Gyirong border port in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region.

The mudslide, which occurred on the Nepalese side, struck Gyirong Port in Gyirong County of Xizang on Wednesday morning. As of 18:00 Saturday, the disaster had claimed 16 lives, with 546 people still missing, according to local authorities.

On Friday, joint rescue teams, including the China Rescue Team dispatched by the Ministry of Emergency Management and the regional Lhasa Fire and Rescue Mobile Detachment, reached the gate area of the Gyirong port via land.

Footage circulating online shows rescuers and search dogs navigating a landscape of shattered rocks and thick sludge. In some areas, the mud reached their waists, forcing teams to use ropes to move forward in unison.

Meanwhile, the Xigaze Detachment of the Xizang Corps of the Chinese People's Armed Police Force was steadily advancing to the disaster's core area on Saturday.

Equipped with full protective gear, officers worked in segmented zones alongside heavy machinery to conduct search and rescue operations, clear mud, and identify potential secondary hazards.

On Saturday afternoon, an army aviation brigade of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Xizang Military Command deployed two helicopters to deliver emergency supplies directly to the core rescue area.

After reaching the gate area of the Gyirong port, he helicopters air-dropped much-needed provisions, including self-heating meals, drinking water, medicine, and specialized rescue equipment, including gas monitors and life detectors.

Despite unfavorable weather conditions and the thick mud blanketing the site, the Xizang Military Command successfully executed two supply-drop sorties on Saturday, significantly bolstering the life support, medical, and operational capabilities of the frontline rescue teams.

Rescuers battle waist-deep mud to search for missing after fatal mudslide in China's Xizang