On August 26, a fast‑moving chain mudslide, triggered by a high‑altitude glacier collapse on the Nepali side, struck Gyirong Port on the China‑ Nepal border in southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region, leaving at least sixteen people dead and 546 others missing, officials said. The disaster occurred in the border town of Gyirong, located within Xigaze, a prefecture‑level city in the autonomous region.
In the days that followed, the Xizang regional government mobilised a large‑scale rescue and relief operation. The regional emergency management department reported on Saturday morning that 2,141 Chinese rescuers were already on the ground, working to clear debris and search for survivors. Excavators were busy repairing a key access road, and by early afternoon a total length of 2.6 kilometres of the road had been restored, leaving 1.7 kilometres to reach Gyirong Port. The road was expected to be fully open by about 1 p.m. Saturday.
Officials from the regional government announced the casualty figures at a press conference held by the information office on August 30. The regional government confirmed that sixteen people had died and 546 others remained missing as of 6 p.m. Saturday. In addition, 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries were identified as unaccounted for after the mudslide. The figure was announced on Sunday morning at a press conference, following a joint search and cross‑checking of information by foreign affairs, public security, culture and tourism, and emergency management authorities.
The Chinese Ministry of Emergency Management dispatched five tunnel experts to Nepal to support rescue efforts at a hydropower plant tunnel, according to a statement issued Saturday. The experts arrived at the request of the Nepali government, illustrating the cross‑border cooperation that has been underway since the disaster struck.
To aid the search and rescue operations, the China Meteorological Administration deployed three sets of portable automatic weather stations for targeted weather support. The stations were intended to assist with restoring road access, guiding search and rescue teams, coordinating drone flights, and surveying a barrier lake that had formed after the mudslide. The meteorological data were expected to provide real‑time weather conditions critical for the dangerous terrain.
In addition to on‑ground efforts, several national data centres have supplied a wealth of digital resources. The National Cryosphere Desert Data Center provided 53 service datasets totalling roughly 85 GB of data, made available for download and use by relevant emergency response, rescue, and research institutions. The National Earth Observation Data Center compiled remote sensing data resources from civilian and commercial satellites, with a total data volume exceeding 20 GB. The satellite imagery was intended to support post‑disaster road damage assessment, building collapse identification, and secondary disaster monitoring.
All civilian vehicles and personnel were prohibited from traveling toward Gyirong Township, a restriction that took effect immediately on Saturday. A notice issued by the local traffic police specified that only authorised special‑purpose vehicles for emergency rescue, disaster relief, and material support could pass with valid permits. The restrictions will remain in place until further notice, underscoring the authorities’ focus on keeping the area clear for rescue teams.
During a phone conversation with Nepali Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal on Saturday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China attaches great importance to the disaster, which also caused heavy casualties and left many missing in Nepal. Wang said that while urgently carrying out rescue and relief efforts on its own side, China extended a helping hand at the earliest opportunity and supported Nepal in its emergency disaster relief efforts.
The repeated image caption in the source article notes that a press conference was held by the information office of the Xizang regional government to brief the rescue and relief efforts after the mudslide struck Gyirong Port. The same caption appears twice, indicating that the event was covered extensively by local news agencies, including Xinhua and Tenzing Nima Qadhup.
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