China dispatches supplies, rescuers to render aid

China delivered 50 metric tons of emergency relief supplies to Nepal on Sunday and dispatched nine tunnel rescue experts to assist with rescue operations following a deadly mudslide on Wednesday.

According to the Chinese embassy in Nepal, two Y-20 transport aircraft operated by the People's Liberation Army Air Force carrying 13,200 relief supplies arrived at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on Sunday morning.

The supplies included tents, blankets, sleeping bags, compressed food items and first-aid kits. They will be distributed in disaster-hit areas to help meet the basic living and emergency medical needs of those affected.

Four Chinese tunnel rescue experts and their equipment arrived in Kathmandu with the supplies, while five others had already reached the disaster area by helicopter from Gyirong county in China's Xizang autonomous region on Saturday and begun working at a hydropower station.

The delivery of relief supplies and the expert missions marked the latest progress in implementing China's assistance package for Nepal, which Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during a phone call with his Nepali counterpart Shisir Khanal on Saturday included emergency cash assistance and humanitarian aid.

Wang said a sudden glacier collapse in the China-Nepal border area had triggered severe mudslides, causing significant casualties and leaving people missing on both sides.

He described it as the most serious cross-border disaster between the two countries in recent years, adding that the complexity and difficulty of the rescue and relief operations were unprecedented.

Wang said a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee had called for emergency aid to Nepal's disaster-hit areas and international rescue cooperation, noting that it was an important political decision reflecting China's friendship with Nepal.

China has also shared important information with Nepal, including imagery, satellite and hydrological data from the disaster-hit area, as well as early-warning information on upstream barrier lakes, Wang said.

Regarding Nepali citizens stranded on the Chinese side, Wang said China had made proper arrangements for them and would help them return to Nepal as soon as possible.

He thanked Nepal for its efforts to rescue and evacuate Chinese citizens in need, expressing hope that the Nepali side would continue such efforts.

In the face of the disaster, Wang called on China and Nepal to stand firmly together, work together to overcome the difficulties and demonstrate their traditional friendship across the Himalayas through concrete actions.

Khanal expressed sincere gratitude for China's emergency humanitarian assistance.

He said that although both Nepal and China had been affected by the disaster, China had overcome its own difficulties to convey sympathy and provide assistance to Nepal at the earliest opportunity, fully demonstrating the high level of Nepal-China relations.

Nepal will continue to work closely with China and make every effort to rescue Chinese nationals who remain trapped or missing, while working together to locate and rescue all missing foreign nationals, Khanal said.

He added that Nepal is ready to strengthen cooperation with China and further advance the strategic partnership between the two countries through post-disaster reconstruction and efforts to prevent and mitigate disasters, including responses to climate change.

Figures released by Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority showed that workers had recovered 734 human remains from mudslide-hit areas as of 9 am local time on Sunday, with 2,498 people still missing.

zhaojia@chinadaily.com.cn