GYIRONG, Xizang -- China has provided assistance to 1,720 Nepalese border residents after a mudslide struck Gyirong Port on the China-Nepal border in Southwest China's Xizang autonomous region on Aug 26, the emergency response and rescue headquarters said on Sunday.

The mudslide, triggered by a high-altitude glacier collapse in Nepal, had left 43 people dead and 519 others missing at the border port as of 6 pm Saturday, officials told a news conference.

Many Nepalese border residents who work or do business in the county of Gyirong were stranded there after the mudslide destroyed the border port, through which they enter and leave China.

After a devastating mudslide struck Gyirong Port in Southwest China's Xizang autonomous region on Aug 26, 27-year-old Hao Zhen and 16 other volunteers from the "Go West" program joined the relief effort.

Working behind the scenes in Gyirong town, the volunteers arranged accommodation, distributed supplies and helped provide meals for displaced residents and rescue workers.

Hao said his comrades and himself were committed to playing their part wherever the motherland and the people needed them.

GYIRONG, Xizang -- China has deployed more than 2,500 rescue personnel after a mudslide struck Gyirong Port on the China-Nepal border in Southwest China's Xizang autonomous region on Aug 26, the emergency response and rescue headquarters said on Sunday.

The mudslide, triggered by a high-altitude glacier collapse in Nepal, had left 43 people dead and 519 others missing at the border port as of 6 pm Saturday, officials told a news conference.

As of 6 pm Saturday, more than 2,500 people and over 500 vehicles had been deployed to join rescue operations, and more than 1,000 flights of drones had air-dropped 5.43 metric tons of supplies, officials said.

GYIRONG, Xizang -- Forty-three people had been confirmed dead and 519 others remained missing as of 6 pm Saturday after a mudslide struck Gyirong Port on the China-Nepal border in Southwest China's Xizang autonomous region on Aug 26, local emergency response and rescue authorities said on Sunday.

A total of 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries have been identified as being among the missing, officials told a press conference attended by domestic and foreign journalists.

The press conference was held after journalists from overseas media outlets visited the mudslide site at Gyirong Port over the weekend.

China launched a massive search and rescue operation after the deadly mudslide, which was triggered by a high-altitude glacier collapse in Nepal.

As of 6 pm Saturday, China has deployed more than 2,500 people and over 500 vehicles to join rescue operations. Drones have conducted more than 1,000 flights, and 5.43 tonnes of supplies have been air-dropped.

Local authorities have provided assistance to 1,720 Nepalese border residents in Gyirong. Many Nepalese nationals who work or do business in Gyirong were stranded there after the mudslide destroyed the border port, through which they normally enter and leave China.

China has also provided Nepal with daily updates on meteorological, hydrological and glacier data through a disaster information notification mechanism, according to officials.

Until last month, Hao Zhen had only seen disaster relief efforts on the news. Then a devastating mudslide struck Gyirong, the remote border county in Xizang autonomous region where he works as a volunteer.

The 27-year-old was among 17 volunteers from China's Go West program who joined relief efforts in Gyirong township after the Aug 26 disaster.

While professional rescue teams searched the hardest-hit areas, Hao and his fellow volunteers worked behind the scenes, arranging accommodation, distributing supplies and helping provide meals for displaced residents and rescue workers.

"When the disaster first happened, a lot of affected residents and rescuers arrived in the township all at once," Hao said.

"The first thing we had to do was make sure they had somewhere to stay and food to eat."

As relief supplies poured in, the volunteers counted, sorted and moved thousands of boxes donated by Red Cross organizations, companies and foundations. They also helped with logistical work at the local emergency response headquarters and collected and organized information from the disaster area.

The experience gave Hao a new understanding of what disaster relief involves.

"Before this, I had only read news stories about volunteers helping after disasters," he said.

"Now I realize that you don't have to be on the search-and-rescue front line to make a difference. Keeping things running behind the scenes matters, too."

Born in 1999, Hao is the oldest of the 17 Go West program volunteers working in Gyirong township. Most of the others were born between 2000 and 2003. They come from across China, including Heilongjiang, Jiangxi and Shandong provinces, as well as Xizang, and have backgrounds ranging from medicine to education.

The work has come with practical challenges. Only two of the 17 volunteers speak Tibetan, creating communication difficulties at the shelters. Local township officials often stepped in to interpret.

Food and accommodation were also stretched in the first few days as large numbers of residents, rescuers and support workers arrived in the small border town. Hao said the situation gradually improved as local authorities coordinated with hotels and restaurants to provide additional support.

Another five Go West program volunteers remained in the county seat, helping receive relatives of missing people, assisting families and handling calls and follow-ups through the 12345 public service hotline. Volunteers from nearby counties, including Lhaze and Dingri, also came to help.

For Hao, Gyirong is a long way from home — nearly 5,700 kilometers from Shuangyashan in Heilongjiang province. He usually makes the journey home only once a year.

He arrived in Gyirong in February 2025 to join the Go West program and plans to stay for three years. His family initially tried to talk him out of the move, worried about the distance and the physical demands of living at high altitude.

"But I thought, if everyone worries about the hardship and the distance, places like this will have fewer and fewer young people willing to come," Hao said.

The physical challenges are real. When Hao first arrived in Gyirong, he found he did not have the same stamina he had at lower elevations. He also experienced heart palpitations when he first joined the relief effort. After more than a year on the plateau, however, he said his body has largely adapted.

His family still worries about him, particularly after learning that he was involved in the disaster response.

"But the disaster happened right here, where we work and live," Hao said.

"Since we chose to come here as volunteers, helping when something like this happens is simply part of what we should do."

The Aug 26 mudslide at Gyirong Port on the China-Nepal border was triggered by an ice-rock avalanche originating from a high-altitude glacier in Nepal. As of Friday evening, 31 people had been confirmed dead and 531 remained missing in Gyirong, according to the local emergency response and rescue command headquarters.

For Hao, the experience has also changed the way he sees the small tasks that fill much of his day.

Moving boxes, arranging accommodation and making sure people have meals may be far removed from the dramatic scenes of a search-and-rescue operation, but he no longer sees them as minor jobs.

"My biggest hope now is that we can keep the support work running smoothly, that all the rescuers return safely and that there are no more secondary disasters," he said.

KATHMANDU -- Nepali rescuers on Saturday rescued a Chinese national from a hydropower plant hit by the deadly mudslide in Nepal, according to the Chinese Embassy in Nepal.

The Chinese national was rescued by the Nepali Army in coordination with a disaster expert team from South Korea, 11 days after a devastating mudslide struck the area.

The survivor was taken for further medical assessment and care.

The rescue is part of an intensified effort to locate and evacuate people believed to be trapped inside hydropower project tunnels following a mudslide that swept through the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli river systems.

The disaster caused extensive damage to several hydropower projects and other infrastructure in the affected areas. Some workers and other people are believed to have been trapped inside hydropower tunnels and have remained out of contact.

Before the rescue of the Chinese national, the Nepali Army said in a social media post that a joint rescue team comprising 20 Nepali Army personnel and project representatives had been conducting search operations.

The Nepali Army has been conducting search and rescue operations in coordination with foreign technical teams, including experts from China, India and South Korea, to reach people stranded inside structures at several hydropower projects.

China has deployed around 20 sets of monitoring equipment across the disaster-hit Gyirong area in the Xizang autonomous region, with real-time data showing geological conditions stabilizing, a senior geologist said.

The devices — including debris flow monitors, slope radars and microseismic sensors — were installed by the China Geological Survey and other emergency response teams following last month's ice-rock avalanche that buried parts of the Gyirong border crossing, causing massive casualties on both sides of the border.

Ge Daqing, deputy director of the China Aero Geophysical Survey and Remote Sensing Center for Natural Resources, said the equipment was positioned at key risk points across the disaster zone to monitor slope movement, debris flow channels and ground deformation in real time.

Two additional slope radars were installed on Wednesday near the border crossing after rescue teams cleared access roads, he added.

The devices are positioned to protect workers repairing roads and power lines by issuing early warnings if falling rocks or shallow landslides are detected on the slopes above.

Data collected so far indicates the dynamic processes at the site have entered a relatively stable phase. "Overall, there have been no significant fluctuations or changes," Ge said, adding that the risk of a large-scale secondary disaster is currently assessed as low without external triggers. However, he cautioned that high-risk factors persist due to the complex terrain.

Some minor rockfalls have been observed at the glacier front in the collapse zone, but Ge said these pose no immediate threat.

The monitoring equipment is primarily intended for the emergency response phase. Once a comprehensive risk assessment is completed and no major threats remain, the devices may be withdrawn, he said.

Beyond the immediate response, the disaster has underscored the limitations of existing monitoring technologies in the high-altitude, cloud-prone Himalayan region.

Ge said optical satellite imagery — the most common remote sensing tool — is severely hampered by persistent cloud cover and fog in the area. Clear images can be obtained on only about 20 days a year, and most of the optical data received recently have been obscured by clouds.

To address this, Ge called for the accelerated development of new synthetic aperture radar satellites, particularly an interferometric SAR satellite constellation that combines L-band, high-resolution, wide-swath capabilities, and both sun-synchronous and low-inclination orbits. This can overcome the challenge of monitoring rapid deformation in the high-elevation mountains and glaciers of the Himalayas.

He also stressed the need to improve satellite revisit cycles and spatial resolution to enable more frequent and rapid monitoring.

Unmanned aerial vehicles offer another monitoring option, but current drones struggle to operate above 7,000 meters and their sensors remain vulnerable to cloud interference. New radar-based sensors and improved high-altitude flight capabilities are needed, he added.

Looking ahead, Ge warned that the risk of high-altitude ice-rock avalanches in the region is likely to increase.

"The 2015 Nepal earthquake caused internal damage to these mountain masses," he said.

"Combined with glacial erosion at high elevations and steep terrain, the structural integrity of rock formations has been compromised, making them prone to collapse."

Given the transboundary nature of such hazards, Ge highlighted the importance of international collaboration in disaster monitoring and early warning across the Himalayan region, noting that ice-rock avalanches and glacial lake outburst floods do not respect national borders.

limenghan@chinadaily.com.cn

The death toll from the massive mudslide that struck a border port in Gyirong county, Shigatse, Xizang autonomous region, on Aug 26, rose to 31 as of 6 pm on Friday, while 531 people remained missing. A total of 987 personal items had also been recovered, according to the disaster emergency and rescue command headquarters.

The rescue access route to Gyirong Port has been opened, marking a new stage in relief efforts, the headquarters said at a news conference on Friday evening.

The command center said coordinated rescue operations would be further intensified, with particular emphasis on monitoring and early warning for secondary disasters at the port site and along the G216 highway.

Local authorities will also continue to assess risks and issue early warnings for areas upstream and downstream of the disaster site to ensure the safety of rescue operations, the headquarters said.

Since the mudslide hit Gyirong Port, an important land gateway between China and Nepal, round-the-clock rescue operations involving multiple government departments have been underway.

As of 4 pm on Wednesday, 172 experts and technicians from meteorological, natural resources, water resources and emergency management departments, along with 150 sets of equipment, had been deployed to the site, according to the headquarters.

The water resources authority, for example, sent 28 experts with 31 sets of equipment, including drones, radar water-level gauges and high-definition cameras, to conduct hydrological monitoring. The natural resources department dispatched 92 technicians with 40 sets of equipment to carry out focused surveys along two rescue access routes and in areas affected by the mudslide.

The regional government has also moved swiftly to assess geological hazards in the disaster area. As of Wednesday, a special inspection along the G216 highway, a key rescue access route, had identified 58 geological hazard sites. Seven were classified as high-risk, 39 as medium-risk and 12 as low-risk, according to the headquarters.

Local authorities have completed hazard inspections and risk assessments in three affected villages and identified two sites for temporary shelters, while providing guidance on their construction, the headquarters said.

Technology has played a key role in the rescue operation. Slope radar, high-definition video surveillance and geophone monitoring systems have been installed in areas affected by ice-avalanche debris flows to continuously detect anomalies, including ice-rock collapses and deformation of debris in the source zone.

By automatically collecting deformation and image data, the systems help address the limitations of manual inspections in the steep, canyon-locked terrain. They enable real-time monitoring of key hazard sites and help ensure the safety of rescue personnel working downstream, the command center said.

In addition, local authorities have established a regular coordination mechanism to ensure smooth information flow throughout the rescue operation.

Contact the writers at caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn

Medical and epidemic prevention personnel from the Chinese military have begun testing soil samples from the core area of the mudslide-hit Gyirong Port in Shigatse, Xizang autonomous region, to help formulate disinfection and personal protection plans as detailed search and rescue efforts continue.

Bacterial culture and pathogen testing are being used to gauge the risk of infectious diseases for rescue crews working amid shattered rocks and thick sludge in the core area, said a medical and disease prevention team with the People's Liberation Army Xizang Military Command's logistics support department.

The road access was largely restored on Wednesday morning.

Lhamo Tsering, a military technician specializing in infectious disease prevention and control, said that soil samples collected from the core zone would go through testing for 21 vector-borne pathogens, 23 respiratory pathogens and 32 gastrointestinal pathogens.

"Conducting pathogen testing on these soil samples can identify the types and levels of soil pathogen contamination, assess the risk of secondary infectious diseases, trace the sources of pollution, and guide environmental disinfection and personnel protection," she said.

"The results can also help us evaluate the effectiveness of epidemic control efforts and prevent the spread of soil-borne infectious diseases after a disaster," she added.

Liu Xiaonan, a member of the team, was among the first to enter the core zone on Wednesday after the road leading to the port reopened. He recalled heavy downpours that evening, and his team worked until late before returning.

One of the most challenging parts of his work was navigating the deep mud in the area. "In some areas, the sludge looks solid, but when I try walking on it, my feet can get sucked down until the mud comes up to my calves or even my knees. Sometimes we are only able to pull ourselves out with the help of nearby personnel," he said.

It is also important to prevent mosquito and other insect bites in the area, he added. Lhamo Tsering was one of the two female military personnel working on-site on Friday morning. The other was tasked with providing psychological consulting for search and rescue crew members.

Lhamo Tsering said she had participated in responding to acute health emergencies, including the COVID-19 outbreak, in the past. It was her first time working on the front line in the aftermath of a devastating natural disaster of this scale.

"I am used to performing tests in the laboratory using samples collected and transported back by my fellow soldiers. This time, I asked to come to the hardest-hit area because I wanted to collect the samples myself to ensure the precision of my work," she said.

As a native of Lhasa, the regional capital of Xizang, Lhamo Tsering said she was also deeply saddened by the havoc wreaked by the mudslide at Gyirong Port. "This area is naturally beautiful with pristine air, a comfortable altitude and lush vegetation," she said. "I hope that one day it can restore its beauty."

Contact the writers at wangxiaoyu@chinadaily.com.cn

After days of relentless search and rescue efforts, Xiao Fugui, a police officer at the entry-exit border inspection station in Gyirong county, Shigatse, Xizang autonomous region, looked gaunt and exhausted.

Despite his weary appearance, he insisted repeatedly that he was not tired at all. "All I want is to find my workmates," he said on Thursday, gripping an iron shovel with determination, his brow furrowed.

On Aug 26, a massive mudslide devastated Gyirong Port, a vital land link between China and Nepal. By Wednesday noon, 21 victims had been found, 847 personal belongings recovered, and 541 people remained missing.

Xiao was driving toward the port when the disaster struck. "I was just four or five kilometers away when I saw several cars pulled over," he said. "I got out and asked other drivers what was happening — everyone was panicked, saying the water level had risen sharply near the port."

Concerned for their safety, he instructed the two female colleagues in his car to get out and find a safe place, then continued driving alone to assess the situation. Upon realizing it was a landslide, Xiao immediately alerted the authorities.

"The muddy water was rushing toward me, so I threw the car into reverse and backed up about 500 meters before stopping," he recounted, his voice tense. "I was terrified the car would be swept away. What really scared me was not knowing what had happened to my workmates at the port."

As visibility dropped sharply and the road ahead was blocked, Xiao found himself trapped. Reflecting on that moment, he said, "I really walked through the gates of hell that day."

Driven by worry and a deep sense of duty, Xiao joined the rescue teams. By Sunday, he had reached the vicinity of the port and immediately immersed himself in the relief efforts. "As soon as I arrived, I started moving supplies, then began searching. I found clothing, shoes and crushed vehicles belonging to the missing. Every single item I saw pierced my heart like a needle."

Originally from Qinghai province, the 39-year-old Xiao has worked in Xizang for 17 years, with 11 of those years at the Gyirong entry-exit border inspection station, primarily handling publicity affairs. "For many years, I've spent almost every day with my workmates — filming their patrols, writing about their lives guarding this border," he said. "This port, these people — they've become part of me."

On the first day of the rescue, Xiao and other workers camped in a tent by a reservoir halfway up the mountain near the border port. He did not sleep at all. "The rain was so heavy that night — water poured down the slopes and merged into the river. The sound of rain, rushing water, and collapsing hillsides all mixed together. It made my heart sink. I didn't dare to sleep, and I couldn't sleep anyway," he said.

As he spoke, he picked up the shovel and resumed digging. "I have only one thought: no matter what, I want to find my workmates. I want to bring them home," he added.

31 dead, 531 missing after mudslide hits border port in Xizang

China has deployed around 20 sets of monitoring equipment across the disaster-hit Gyirong area in the Xizang autonomous region, with real-time data showing geological conditions stabilizing, a senior geologist said.

The devices — including debris flow monitors, slope radars and microseismic sensors — were installed by the China Geological Survey and other emergency response teams following last month's ice-rock avalanche that buried parts of the Gyirong border crossing, causing massive casualties on both sides of the China-Nepal border.

Ge Daqing, deputy director of the China Aero Geophysical Survey and Remote Sensing Center for Natural Resources, said the equipment was positioned at key risk points across the disaster zone to monitor slope movement, debris flow channels and ground deformation in real time.

Two additional slope radars were installed on Wednesday near the border crossing after rescue teams cleared access roads, he added. The devices are positioned to protect workers repairing roads and power lines by issuing early warnings if falling rocks or shallow landslides are detected on the slopes above.

Data collected so far indicates the dynamic processes at the site have entered a relatively stable phase.

"Overall, there have been no significant fluctuations or changes," Ge said, adding that the risk of a large-scale secondary disaster is currently assessed as low without external triggers. However, he cautioned that high-risk factors persist due to the complex terrain.

Some minor rockfalls have been observed at the glacier front in the collapse zone, but Ge said these pose no immediate threat.

The monitoring equipment is primarily intended for the emergency response phase. Once a comprehensive risk assessment is completed and no major threats remain, the devices may be withdrawn, he noted.

Beyond the immediate response, the disaster has underscored the limitations of existing monitoring technologies in the high-altitude, cloud-prone Himalayan region.

Ge said optical satellite imagery — the most common remote sensing tool — is severely hampered by persistent cloud cover and fog in the area. Clear images can be obtained on only about 20 days a year, and most of the optical data received recently have been obscured by clouds.

To address this, Ge called for the accelerated development of new synthetic aperture radar satellites, particularly an interferometric SAR satellite constellation that combines L-band, high-resolution, wide-swath capabilities, and both sun-synchronous and low-inclination orbits. This can overcome the challenge of monitoring rapid deformation in the high-elevation mountains and glaciers of the Himalayas.

He also stressed the need to improve satellite revisit cycles and spatial resolution to enable more frequent and rapid monitoring.

Unmanned aerial vehicles offer another monitoring option, but, currently, drones struggle to operate above 7,000 meters and their sensors remain vulnerable to cloud interference. New radar-based sensors and improved high-altitude flight capabilities are needed, he added.

Ge warned that the risk of high-altitude ice-rock avalanches in the region is likely to increase.

"The 2015 Nepal earthquake, which exceeded magnitude 8, caused internal damage to these mountain masses," he said. "Combined with glacial erosion at high elevations and steep terrain, the structural integrity of rock formations has been compromised, making them prone to collapse."

Given the transboundary nature of such hazards, Ge highlighted the importance of international collaboration in disaster monitoring and early warning across the Himalayan region, noting that ice-rock avalanches and glacial lake outburst floods do not respect national borders.

"Every major disaster should teach us something beyond the emergency response itself," Ge said.

"We need to build resilient disaster prevention systems — in urban planning, engineering design and settlement siting — that account for a wider range of geological hazards."

The Chinese People's Liberation Army and the People's Armed Police Force have deployed hundreds of personnel and specialized equipment to assist emergency search and rescue operations following the catastrophic mudslide in Gyirong county, Shigatse, Xizang autonomous region.

The mudslide, which occurred on Aug 26, has caused significant casualties and left many people missing in the region. In response, military forces immediately activated emergency response mechanisms to support local authorities in disaster relief efforts, Jiang Bin, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, said at an online news briefing on Friday.

As of Thursday, a total of 726 service members, 24 pieces of construction machinery and 60 specialized equipment sets had been mobilized to the affected areas in Gyirong. Over 20 helicopter and drone sorties have been executed to facilitate operations, according to Jiang.

"Rescue personnel have focused their efforts on searching for survivors, reopening blocked roads, delivering critical supplies and providing emergency medical care," Jiang said.

Over 13,900 cubic meters of mud and rock had been cleared. Additionally, 77 relief personnel and 1.23 tons of essential supplies had been airlifted directly into the disaster-stricken core area. The military has also provided healthcare and disease prevention services to local residents and rescue workers on more than 900 occasions.

"Putting the people and human life above all else, our military forces remain on the front lines of rescue efforts, racing against time to locate missing individuals and minimize casualties," Jiang said.

"So long as there remains a single glimmer of hope, we will never give up."

Zhangmu Port in Nyalam of Shigatse, Xizang autonomous region, will adjust its customs and border inspection facilities from Saturday to improve safety management for the high-altitude mountain environment, according to an announcement by the local government on Thursday.

Located in a deep Himalayan valley, the port is a major land gateway between China and Nepal. Its mountainous terrain exposes the area to geological hazards.

The adjustment is aimed at protecting inbound and outbound travelers and their property, while maintaining normal border clearance operations and orderly movement through the port.

Starting at 10 am on Saturday, customs and immigration inspection operations at Zhangmu Port will be moved to the port's former temporary inspection area for import cargo.

The road section connecting the Friendship Bridge border gate to the new inspection site will be designated as a controlled port area and a customs transit supervision zone, with closed-loop management implemented.

Under the new arrangement, cross-border travelers will be transferred through designated routes. They will not be allowed to leave the designated area, move around freely, get on and off vehicles midway, or have unauthorized contact with people outside the designated transfer system.

Without permission, vehicles will not be allowed to stop along the controlled section to pick up or drop off passengers or load or unload goods. Unrelated personnel and vehicles will also be barred from entering the area.

Authorities said that the change only concerns the layout of customs and border inspection facilities. The port's opening status and bilateral customs clearance policies will remain unchanged.

Following the glacier-collapse mudslide that struck Gyirong Port in Xizang autonomous region, China's meteorological authorities swiftly deployed portable ground-based weather observation facilities near the port, providing real-time weather support for rescue efforts.

Fire and rescue teams are expanding detailed searches across the core disaster area around Gyirong Port in Shigatse, Xizang autonomous region, after the main land route was reopened, allowing heavy machinery to support deeper excavation and searches, the Ministry of Emergency Management said on Thursday.

National Highway G216 was fully reopened to the core area on Wednesday morning. Rescue personnel, supplies and heavy equipment have since moved in, shifting operations from largely manual surface searches to deeper and more targeted searches.

The State Grid announced that after power crews worked around the clock, temporary power lines to the core area of Gyirong Port were fully restored on Thursday evening, ensuring electricity supplies for rescue and relief operations in the area.

The mudslide struck Gyirong Port on Aug 26 after originating on the Nepalese side of the China-Nepal border. As of noon on Wednesday, 21 victims had been found and 541 people remained missing.

The disaster also knocked local base stations out of service, severed sections of main power lines and cut roads, electricity and communications to the hardest-hit area.

After days of repairs, communications for emergency command, rescue operations and supply dispatch have been restored, with full 5G coverage now available in the core disaster area. Power crews are also extending electricity lines deeper into the area, local authorities said.

Mud and debris in the core area average about 4 meters deep and reach up to 16 meters in some places, with large rocks covering the surface.

A 195-member fire and rescue task force has been divided into three groups rotating through the core zone, focusing on areas including a parking lot and the joint inspection building. Teams are clearing and searching debris layer by layer, using life-detection equipment and search dogs to check newly exposed areas.

Since the disaster, fire and rescue forces have made 336 personnel deployments and conducted repeated searches in the core area, said the Ministry of Emergency Management.

Heavy machinery is clearing large rocks and deep deposits, allowing firefighters to follow behind and conduct more precise searches around buried buildings, rock piles and sediment-filled river sections.

Yang Qiqiao, a firefighter with the Shigatse fire and rescue detachment who was among the first rescuers to reach the disaster area on foot, told CCTV that teams initially relied mainly on manual methods, calling out for survivors, listening for responses and knocking on debris.

Search dogs and more detection equipment were added as more equipment reached the core area, he said.

Secondary-disaster prevention remains a major focus. The regional authorities said 93 experts and technical personnel are monitoring barrier lakes, the source area of the ice-rock collapse and geological hazards along the road to the border gate.

Monitoring continues for possible landslides and mudslides under continued rainfall and higher temperatures. About 150 pieces of professional equipment have been deployed, including 104 sets of slope radar, video monitoring, drones, water-level and meteorological equipment.

Rescue sites also have dedicated safety officers, evacuation signals, escape routes and safe assembly areas prepared in advance.

Search, monitoring and sanitation teams are working in shifts around the clock, with machinery continuing to operate as personnel rotate.

To support road reinforcement and deeper excavation, the Ministry of Emergency Management and the Ministry of Transport have also dispatched 40 sets of temporary roadbed panels, cranes and other equipment from a national highway emergency reserve center in Changji Hui autonomous prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

The panels help prevent excavators, cranes and dump trucks from sinking in mud and soft ground. The equipment has arrived at the rescue site.

The ministry said rescue teams will continue adjusting deployments while maintaining intensive searches in the core area.

Contact the writers at yangzekun@chinadaily.com.cn

Twenty-one people have been confirmed dead, and 541 remain missing after a mudslide struck Gyirong Port on the China-Nepal border in Xizang autonomous region on Aug 26, according to the regional government's latest news briefing.

The mudslide began with the collapse of a high-altitude glacier in Nepal, which triggered an ice-rock avalanche that developed into a fast-moving debris flow before reaching the port. The disaster has brought renewed attention to the Himalayan valley in which Gyirong sits.

Gyirong is one of the main land gateways between China and Nepal. Its geography made it a natural passage between the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and South Asia. It has been used for more than 1,000 years. Long before the establishment of a modern border crossing, the route carried royal missions, diplomats, religious masters, and traders.

In the seventh century, Nepali Princess Bhrikuti traveled through Gyirong on her way to marry Tibetan King Songtsan Gampo. The Buddha statue she was said to have brought was enshrined at Phakpa Lhakhang Temple in modern-day Gyirong county.

The same century also saw Tang Dynasty (618-907) envoy Wang Xuance pass through the area on a mission to India in 658. Wang left a cliff inscription as a record of the journey that survives today.

In the eighth century, Indian Buddhist master Padmasambhava also traveled through Gyirong, which was described as the first stop on his mission, as he entered Xizang to teach Buddhism.

Together, these journeys illustrate Gyirong's long-standing role as a corridor for exchanges between the plateau and South Asia. That role continued into modern times.

Gyirong was designated a national first-class land port in 1978 and opened to travelers from third countries in 2017, becoming an important gateway for cross-border travel and trade. The port saw imports and exports worth 4.25 billion yuan ($632.6 million) in 2024, ranking first among ports in the region and accounting for nearly 30 percent of the total China-Nepal trade volume, according to Xinhua News Agency.

The mudslide disrupted access through the border area. By Wednesday, road access to the core disaster zone had been largely restored, allowing rescuers and heavy machinery to move in and help with the search for those still missing.

Temporary power supply lines to the core disaster area around Gyirong Port in Shigatse, Xizang autonomous region, were fully restored by Thursday evening, ensuring electricity for ongoing search and rescue operations, the China Central Television reported.

Power crews had been working around the clock to repair damaged lines since a massive mudslide struck Gyirong Port on Aug 26, cutting off roads, electricity and communications in the hardest-hit area.

The restoration of power follows progress in reopening transport and communications links to the disaster zone.

National Highway G216, the main land route to Gyirong Port, was fully reopened on Wednesday morning, allowing rescuers, relief supplies and heavy equipment to enter the core area and support deeper searches.

Communications have also been restored after crews laid fiber-optic cables, repaired faults, restored base stations and optimized signals.

According to local authorities, emergency command, rescue operations and supply dispatch now have uninterrupted communications, while the core disaster area has achieved full 5G coverage.