Gyirong, China, Sept. 6 (SANA) Chinese rescue teams are digging through deep mud and debris at what was once a busy border crossing between China and Nepal, searching for hundreds of people still missing after a catastrophic mudslide swept through the area.
Around 20 rescuers in bright orange uniforms used excavators, shovels and radar detection equipment on Sunday at the Gyirong crossing, which has become one of the starkest symbols of the destruction caused by the Aug. 26 disaster, Reuters reported.
The crossing, linking Nepal with China’s Tibet region through a narrow river valley, was devastated after a glacier collapsed on the Nepalese side of the border, unleashing a tsunami-like surge of mud and debris.
Little remains of the infrastructure that once handled travellers and trade between the two countries.
The five-storey Chinese customs building that stood at the frontier has disappeared. Only part of a nearby water-tower facility remains, while workers have planted a Chinese flag where the roughly 20-metre-high border gate once stood.
Beyond signs warning visitors of the danger, teams of rescuers and recovery workers continued digging through the debris on Sunday, with excavators positioned nearby.
Search operation faces difficult conditions
Rescue teams have divided the disaster zone into seven search areas, officials said. Four have been surveyed, while operations are continuing in the remaining three.
More than 1,300 people have been killed on both sides of the border and more than 5,000 remain missing.
On the Chinese side, 31 people had been confirmed dead and 531 were still missing as of Friday, including 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries.
Emergency workers in Nepal on Saturday rescued a Chinese worker who had been trapped inside a tunnel connected to a hydroelectric power station.
The mountainous terrain has complicated the search. Gyirong county sits at an average elevation of more than 4,000 meters, although the border crossing lies at about 1,800 meters.
Deep mud, unstable slopes, the continuing risk of landslides and poor weather have slowed efforts to find survivors and recover bodies.
The only road leading to Gyirong reopened on Wednesday, allowing heavy equipment to reach the disaster zone and paving the way for reconstruction work. Crews have also begun restoring electricity using temporary utility poles.
A gateway for trade and pilgrims
Before the disaster, Gyirong had grown into a key link between Nepal and Tibet, particularly after a 2015 earthquake badly damaged another border crossing farther east.
It served not only as a major trade route for Chinese goods entering Nepal, including electric vehicles, but also as a gateway for thousands of Indian pilgrims travelling through Nepal to Mount Kailash in Tibet.
Mount Kailash is sacred to both Hindus and Buddhists and is regarded by Hindus as the eternal abode of Shiva and his wife Parvati.
The crossing had already proved vulnerable to extreme conditions. It was closed from July last year until January following an earlier glacial flood.
Many of the foreign nationals still missing in Tibet were visitors with extended families in India, according to diplomats in Beijing. Forty-nine Indian nationals are among those unaccounted for.
For now, the crowds of travelers, trucks and traders that once passed through Gyirong have been replaced by excavators and rescue crews searching through a landscape transformed by mud and debris.
kA/ABD
