KOR
▲ Road restoration work at the China-Nepal border checkpoint
Search and rescue operations have gained momentum as authorities secured an overland route into the core disaster area on the Chinese side, which was buried under massive mudflows caused by severe flooding in the Himalayan mountainous region along the China-Nepal border.
According to China Central Television (CCTV) and the state-run Xinhua News Agency on the 3rd, Chinese rescue authorities announced the previous day that they had effectively secured an overland rescue route leading to the hardest-hit area of the Gyirong Port (Kerung Port) in the Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region.
With this breakthrough, rescue workers, relief supplies, and search equipment have entered the site via land, and heavy machinery, including excavators, has begun full-scale search operations in the severely affected zone.
Heavy equipment is clearing away large boulders and mud piled up around buildings such as the Gyirong Port immigration office to search for buried missing persons.
The mudflow deposits accumulated near Gyirong Port are reportedly averaging 4 meters in thickness, with the deepest points reaching 16 meters.
Authorities are focusing their search on areas with a high probability of finding missing people, such as the immigration office and staff dormitory buildings.
China had previously faced major difficulties in reaching the core disaster area after parts of the national highway leading to Gyirong Port were washed away by mudflows.
Rescue workers had previously relied on mountain trails to access the site while utilizing helicopters and drones to airdrop equipment and relief supplies to continue rescue operations.
Authorities explained that with the securement of the overland route, they are deploying personnel and heavy machinery in earnest to simultaneously carry out the search for the missing, road restoration, disaster recovery, and prevention of secondary disasters.
To date, approximately 2,300 rescue personnel, about 400 rescue vehicles, and some 8,000 pieces of search and rescue equipment have been deployed, along with drones operating roughly 800 sorties.
Authorities announced that as of noon the previous day, casualties in the Tibet region related to the Nepal floods stood at 21 dead and 541 missing.
At the scene, 847 personal belongings that can be used to verify the identities of the missing were also discovered.
Authorities are also continuing to monitor "natural dams" formed upstream and landslide-prone areas.
On August 30, the risk of collapse was reportedly resolved as water from the natural dam drained naturally, and pools formed by glacier and rock collapses have also been completely drained.
However, to prepare for the possibility of additional mudflows driven by continuous rain and high temperatures, officials are continuously monitoring precipitation levels, river water levels, and landslide hazard zones.
The disaster occurred on August 26 when a glacier in Langtang Lirung, Nepal, collapsed at an altitude of about 5,200 meters.
The massive landslide and mudflow triggered by the glacier collapse swept rapidly down for about 22 kilometers, striking Gyirong Port, located at an altitude of about 1,800 meters.
The affected area is estimated to span roughly 100 soccer fields.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.
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