Xizang Mudslide: Rescue Teams Push Into Remote Gyirong Port

Rescue operations are intensifying at the Gyirong Port in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, where a devastating mudslide has left at least 16 people dead and 546 missing, according to the regional government. The disaster struck on Wednesday morning, severing roads, communications, and power lines to the inland border port.

With access routes destroyed, a fire rescue advance team trekked over 20 kilometers through mountainous terrain on Friday, rappelling more than 500 meters to reach the core affected areas. Wang Haitao, chief of the Xizang Fire and Rescue Corps, said teams are systematically checking building interiors and vehicles for survivors in zones not buried by debris.

The mudslide originated from a glacier break at 5,140 meters elevation in Nepal's Cuojian River basin. A 620,000-square-meter glacier collapsed, sweeping loose rock and debris into the Guobaxiaqu River—a boundary waterway between China and Nepal—before cascading into the Donglin Tsangpo River and overwhelming the port downstream.

Wang Genhou, a professor at the China University of Geosciences in Beijing, explained that avalanches and icefalls from Nepal descended the river, triggering the debris flow. Experts are now monitoring the situation closely, with a barrier lake forming near the confluence of Nepal's Chhochen Khola River and China's Purepu Tsangpo River.

Su Pengcheng, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, warned of ongoing hazards, including glacial debris on the left bank slope and potential downstream glacier melt. Chen Hongqi, a senior engineer at the Ministry of Natural Resources, cautioned that unstable drainage channels could expand or deform, posing risks of flash floods and further mudslides that threaten riverbanks, slopes, and roadbeds—complicating mechanical search efforts.

An eight-member advance team from China Anneng, a state-owned engineering and rescue enterprise, arrived Thursday with communications and detection equipment. They are conducting aerial surveys and 3D modeling to assess the barrier lake's risk and support ongoing emergency repairs to the damaged road network.