Gyirong, China: Nearly two weeks after a glacier collapse on the Nepal side of the frontier unleashed a wall of ice, rock and slurry that swept away villages and infrastructure, rescue teams were still combing the ruins of Gyirong, China’s principal land crossing with Nepal, Reuters reported.
On Sunday, about 20 workers in bright orange gear operated excavators, shovels and ground-penetrating radar in a narrow river gorge where a bustling customs complex once stood, hunting for hundreds of people still unaccounted for.
The disaster, which began with the failure of a high-altitude glacier on August 26, has turned the Gyirong port into a grim showcase of the devastation that has gripped the Himalayan valley.
Reuters and other news outlets were taken to the site in the first foreign-media visit organised by China’s foreign ministry, where video and photographs showed the five-storey Chinese customs building completely gone. Only a shattered section of a nearby water tower installation remained recognisable from before the mudslide.
At the spot where the border gate — almost 20 metres tall — once rose, rescuers had planted a Chinese flag. Beyond hazard signs reading “Danger Area Pass Quickly”, three teams of roughly 20 recovery personnel dug into the earth with shovels on Sunday afternoon while several red excavators stood idle nearby.
Search Split Into Seven Zones
Officials told Reuters that the operation has been divided into seven distinct search zones. Crews have already completed work in four of them, with three areas still to be cleared.
The overall toll from the mudslide now stands at more than 1,300 dead on both sides of the border, with upwards of 5,000 people missing, according to the latest figures. On Saturday, emergency teams in Nepal pulled a Chinese worker alive from a tunnel linked to a hydropower project, a rare sign of hope amid the wreckage.
On the Chinese side, authorities have confirmed 31 deaths. As of Friday, 531 people remained classified as missing in Tibet, including 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries, Chinese officials said.
Diplomats in Beijing have indicated that many of those foreigners were pilgrims with large family networks in India; 49 Indian citizens are among the missing.
Terrain & Weather Hamper Rescue Operations
Gyirong County sits at an average altitude exceeding 4,000 metres, although the port itself is lower, at roughly 1,800 metres. The combination of landslide-prone slopes, unpredictable weather and thick, clinging mud has made the search and recovery effort especially difficult.
Access to the area was only restored by Wednesday morning, when the sole land route into Gyirong was reopened, allowing China to move in heavy machinery for both recovery work and eventual reconstruction. State media have broadcast footage of workers restoring electricity by driving in temporary poles and reconnecting the local grid.
Key Crossing For Trade & Pilgrims
Over the last decade, Gyirong has become the main overland gateway for travellers and commerce between Nepal and Tibet, especially after a powerful 2015 earthquake in Nepal severely damaged another crossing farther to the east.
The port was closed between July last year and January because of an earlier glacial outburst flood, but had since resumed operations as a shipment point for Chinese goods, including electric vehicles, bound for Nepal. It also evolved into a critical transit point for thousands of Hindu pilgrims in recent years.
Many Hindus journey through Nepal to reach Mount Kailash, a high-altitude sacred site in Tibet venerated by both Hindus and Buddhists. In Hindu tradition, the mountain is regarded as the eternal abode of Lord Shiva and his wife Parvati. Many of the foreign nationals still missing in Tibet were pilgrims travelling with extended families from India, diplomats in Beijing have said. There are 49 Indian citizens among the missing.
