China-Nepal floods: rescuers pull 2 survivors out of rubble near Tibet border crossing

Chinese rescuers continued searching for survivors from this week’s devastating floods along the border with Nepal as the operation passed a critical 72-hour window.
Two villagers near the Gyirong border checkpoint were rescued from the rubble at around 1am on Saturday, according to Tibet’s emergency bureau.
But at the border crossing itself, there was no sign of any survivors. Liu Maolin, the rescue team leader, said the checkpoint building had been completely destroyed by a mudslide.
Seven people have been confirmed dead, with 544 still missing on the Tibetan side. In Nepal, more than 610 have died with over 2,400 missing.
The rescue teams had to battle through harsh terrain and challenging conditions, with China’s Meteorological Administration warning that Gyirong county in Tibet, one of the worst affected areas, would see light rainfall and temperatures as low as 8 degrees Celsius (46 degrees Fahrenheit) over the next three days.
On Friday night, an advance team of eight firefighters were forced to pull back to a safe zone following an urgent warning that a lake created after the glacier collapse that triggered the floods on Wednesday was on the verge of collapsing, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Each of the firefighters has been equipped with a 72-hour self-sufficiency kit that contains food, water, thermal gear and medical supplies, Liu told CCTV.
The first two to three days after natural disasters are usually the critical window for finding survivors.
Liu said advance scout units were sending real-time GPS coordinates and road conditions to the main search teams and their support teams to help them map out the best possible routes to take.
On Friday, Nepal agreed to allow foreign emergency teams to help with its rescue efforts in the face of intense pressure from foreign governments whose citizens remain missing.
The Nepalese government had previously said it was capable of handling the rescue operation and Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal told Reuters on Saturday that the country needed help in specialised and technical areas rather than search and rescue operations.

According to the Nepal Tourism Board’s latest records, 517 foreigners from 31 countries remained missing, including 178 from India, 65 from the United States, 53 from Ukraine, 35 from Australia and 33 from Britain.