Ministry activates emergency response following deadly mudslide at Gyirong border port

The Ministry of Natural Resources convened two coordination meetings on Wednesday afternoon and evening to guide the emergency response operations after a mudslide on the Nepal side of the Gyirong border port in Shigatse in the Xizang autonomous region caused major casualties and left people missing around 10:30 am on Wednesday.

Following the disaster, the ministry activated a Level II geological disaster defense response and emergency surveying response, dispatching a working group led by a senior official and subsequently an expert panel led by a vice-minister to support rescue operations and prevent secondary geological hazards.

At the meetings, the ministry urged the natural resources system to enhance risk assessment, secondary disaster prevention, and hazard screening in surrounding areas to support on-site rescue operations at Gyirong. Additional geological and emergency surveying experts were dispatched, and relevant departments were instructed to immediately begin emergency data collection in the affected area.