Thousands of rescuers have been racing against time to search for missing people as the death toll rose to 16 after a mudslide struck Gyirong Port in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region.
A total of 2,141 personnel, 269 rescue vehicles and more than 3,900 sets of equipment have been mobilized for search and rescue operations, with rescuers advancing towards the disaster's core area by land, water and air, according to information released at a news conference in Gyirong County on Sunday.
The mudslide struck on the morning of August 26 after a disaster on the Nepalese side of the border with China, causing 16 deaths and leaving 546 people missing at Gyirong Port as of Sunday morning.
Authorities said they have launched a comprehensive search involving multiple departments to trace those who remain unaccounted for. The latest screening identified 261 missing foreign nationals from 23 countries, including Nepal, India, the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia. Chinese authorities have notified the relevant foreign embassies and consulates.
After several rounds of searches and checks, authorities said no foreign tourists are currently stranded in Gyirong County.
Cause of disaster identified
Officials said at the press conference that the cause of the disaster has now been identified as a glacier collapse and ice-rock avalanche on the southern slope of Lantang Lirung in Nepal, triggered by long-term glacier instability linked to climate warming.
Around 10:52 a.m. on August 26, a glacier at an altitude of about 5,200 meters collapsed, sending ice and rock rapidly down the mountainside. The resulting massive mudslide traveled about 22 kilometers before reaching Gyirong Port at an altitude of around 1,800 meters, according to an assessment by the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment.