Xizang official details safety inspections, risk monitoring of mudslide site

Monitoring efforts moblizing professional teams, satellites and radars are underway to monior the mudslide site and its surrounding areas in China's Xizang, said a local official on Sunday, noting that no potential risks have been found after the latest thorough inspection there.

On Wednesday, a fast-moving chain mudslide occured in the neighboring country of Nepal struck Gyirong Port, a major land border crossing in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region. It has so far left 16 people dead and 546 others missing at the port.

Satellite imagery and analysis by Chinese geological experts suggest that a high-altitude glacier collapsed in Nepal, triggering the devastating mudslide. Speaking at a press briefing, Gama Cedain, commander of the emergency rescue headquarters for the Gyirong mudslide response, detailed the risk monitoring operations at the mudslide site.

"We have organized personnel to inspect five administrative villages and 236 buildings in threatened areas, and no potential risks or hidden dangers have been found at present. At the same time, we are monitoring rainfall, water conditions, and changes in the surface area of glacial lakes in the affected area and surrounding regions. Observation posts have been set up to monitor two barrier lakes. And we are using satellite remote sensing, slope radar, hydrological monitoring, and video surveillance to conduct real-time monitoring of the barrier-lake dams and river channels. At present, the barrier-lake dams are relatively stable," said Gama Cedain, concurrently deputy secretary of the Xizang regional committee of the Communist Party of China and chairman of the people's government of Xizang Autonomous Region.

"A total of 86 specialists from sectors, including the natural resources, have been deployed into the affected area and key zones where secondary geological hazards may occur to strengthen hazard inspections, strictly prevent new disasters and cascading secondary disasters, and ensure the safety of the public and rescue personnel," added the official.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Saturday that Tehran had reached an understanding with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran is in no rush to open the strait.

According to Gharibabadi, the understanding will not enter the execution phase unless the United States fulfills its obligations.

The deputy foreign minister emphasized that the Strait of Hormuz is currently completely closed. He asserted that no vessel can pass through the strait without coordination and permission from Iran.

He said that Iran has full control over all movements in the Strait of Hormuz, and that the U.S. claims regarding the passage of ships through the strait are completely untrue.