Rescue teams intensify searches in Gyirong

Rescue teams are advancing by air, land and water routes into the hardest-hit area of the Gyirong border port in Gyirong county, Shigatse, Xizang autonomous region, as search operations for hundreds of people missing after Wednesday's devastating mudslide were stepped up.

The disaster has so far left 16 people dead and 546, including 261 foreigners, missing.

In a major development, the first emergency communication base station at the Gyirong port was put into operation on Sunday afternoon. Located 1.2 kilometers from the border gate, the base station fills a communication coverage gap, providing stable and reliable support for rescue operations, road clearance, material transportation and front-line workers, Xinhua reported.

Communication signals have reached the core rescue site, Nyima Dorje, head of the region's communications administration, said on Sunday.

According to regional authorities, 499 residents from five at-risk villages had been evacuated to hotels and guesthouses.

Gama Cedain, chairman of the Xizang regional government and head of the emergency rescue headquarters, said the region activated its highest-level emergency responses shortly after the mudslide struck on Wednesday.

So far, 2,141 personnel from the People's Liberation Army, armed police, fire and rescue services, border defense and public security authorities, as well as from China Anneng Group, have been mobilized, along with 269 rescue vehicles and 3,922 sets of equipment, Gama Cedain said.

Ren Wei, executive vice-chairman of the regional government, said the rescue operations have been complicated by unstable geological conditions.

The disaster severely damaged National Highway G216, the main route to the Gyirong port. "The overall difficulty level of the rescue operation is far more than in a conventional geological disaster," Ren said.

Rescue teams opened a mountain route and used ropes to lower firefighters into the core area. Engineering teams were working to reopen G216 while searching for survivors and missing people along the road and nearby river. Two helicopters have flown into the core area to deliver supplies and transport personnel and victims, while specialized drones are providing communications support.

Basang Dondrub, a soldier from a unit of the Xizang Armed Police corps in Shigatse told China Daily that the force was continuing with road clearing and transportation work. "The machinery assisted in clearing roads and moving large rocks that couldn't be done manually. Meanwhile, personnel used shovels, pickaxes and their hands to dig and clear the ground and roads," he said.

Meanwhile, the barrier lake that was formed above the Gyirong port has basically drained, the Ministry of Water Resources said on Sunday, citing drone footage and images captured in the morning.

The ministry said an impact crater upstream of the barrier lake still warrants attention. Located about 5.6 km upstream at an altitude of around 3,700 meters, the crater is roughly 800 meters higher than the barrier lake.

Authorities are using satellite remote sensing, radar, hydrological monitoring and video surveillance to monitor the lakes, river channels and surrounding slopes. Eighty-six specialists have been sent to identify possible secondary hazards.

For evacuees, five temporary accommodation sites have been established, said Norbu Tsering, acting mayor of Shigatse.

The city has mobilized 380 Party members and officials, township workers and medical staff members to provide round-the-clock assistance. Special arrangements have also been made for the elderly, children, pregnant women and infants, he said.

Nyima Chozom, 28, from Kopa village in Salhe township, said she was cutting grass in a field on Wednesday when she saw debris rolling down the mountainside opposite her village.

"It sounded deafening, almost like an earthquake," she said, adding that trees were swept away and objects outside her home shook violently.

All eight members of her family were safely evacuated to a hotel. "We are safe now, and the conditions here are good," she said.

She said most of her family's crops had already been harvested and she was reassured after learning that troops were helping villagers with farmwork.

Wang Chao, deputy director of the disaster relief department of the Ministry of Emergency Management, said that more than 100,000 relief items had been allocated, enough to meet current rescue and resettlement needs.