‘Massive casualties’ after flash floods, landslide strike China-Nepal border
Dozens of people were dead and hundreds of others – many of them foreign tourists – were missing on Wednesday night, hours after massive flash floods and landslides engulfed a border area between China and Nepal. Chinese state media reported that the disaster struck Nepal at around 9am, spilling over into Gyirong county in the Tibet autonomous region, causing “major casualties and missing persons” at a border checkpoint in the county, which is administered by the city of Shigatse. Footage...
Rescue operations are under way after a landslide at the China-Nepal border engulfed a key border checkpoint, resulting in “major casualties”, according to Chinese state media.
The landslide began in Nepal at around 9am on Wednesday and also struck Tibet’s Gyirong county, which is under the administration of Shigatse city, according to Xinhua.
Footage circulating online showed the landslide engulfing the checkpoint in seconds as people on the ground fled, before mud and debris obscured the camera. The SCMP could not independently verify the video.
The landslide has caused “major casualties and missing persons” at Gyirong Port, state news agency Xinhua said, without revealing the exact number of fatalities or injured people.
In Nepal, the landslide has left 384 tourists and travelers missing, including 93 Nepalese and 291 foreigners, according to preliminary data released by the Nepal Tourism Board.
The missing foreigners include citizens from India, Australia, the US, the UK and the Netherlands, according to the board. The nationalities of 111 individuals have yet to be confirmed.
Gyirong Port is Tibet’s main foreign trade port and handles the vast majority of China’s trade with Nepal. After the resumption of two-way freight and passenger clearance in 2022 following the Covid-19 pandemic, trade through the port has grown sharply. Since 2023, it has been a major hub for exporting Chinese electric cars to Nepal.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered the local authorities to “spare no effort” in searching for and rescuing missing persons, evacuating residents, promptly treating the injured and minimising casualties.
Xi also called for strengthening monitoring and early warning systems, as well as ensuring rescue operations prevented secondary disasters.
Soldiers and personnel from the People’s Armed Police, a paramilitary law enforcement agency, have arrived at the scene to carry out emergency rescue and disaster relief operations.
The authorities have closed the road leading to the Gyirong checkpoint for the next seven days.
Footage spreading online captured the aftermath of the landslide, showing roads covered in mud and heavy debris washing down a river.
State-owned construction and emergency response firm China Anneng Construction Group has sent 200 rescuers as well as geologists and engineers to the site, with 100 more on standby for deployment, Xinhua said.
The team deployed to the disaster zone brought construction machinery and advanced gear, including reconnaissance drones, 3D laser scanners and life detectors, the report said.
China’s embassy in Nepal has activated its emergency response mechanism and checked on Chinese nationals and enterprises in the disaster zone, the mission said in a statement.
It also called on the Nepalese government to conduct full-scale rescue operations.
China is Nepal’s second-largest trading partner, accounting for roughly 16.9 per cent of the country’s total trade and a major source of imports.
China allows trade and transit through six border points, five of which are in Shigatse, the second largest city in Tibet.
However, disruptions caused by flash floods earlier this year have left hundreds of vehicles stranded and contributed to a 24 per cent drop in electric-vehicle imports in Nepal’s financial year ending in mid-July, local media reported.
In 2018, China announced that it would build what it calls a Trans-Himalayan Multi-Dimensional Connectivity Network with Nepal – involving railways and communication links – as part of the Belt and Road Initiative.
For Nepal, this network could be a lifeline. The landlocked nation has suffered multiple devastating, months-long economic blockades imposed by New Delhi – most notably in 1969, 1989, and 2015 – which choked off vital supplies of fuel, medicine and food.
For this reason, Kathmandu views Beijing as an indispensable strategic counterweight to its southern neighbour.
Nepal joined the Belt and Road Initiative in 2017, but progress on related projects has been slow, constrained by weather disruptions, poor local infrastructure and geopolitical friction.
A cornerstone project, the proposed Rasuwagadhi-Kathmandu Rail Line that would connect Gyirong with Kathmandu, remains at the planning stage.