At Flood-Destroyed China-Nepal Border, No Sign of a Once-Busy Port, Reuters Witnesses

There is almost nothing left of the Chinese border port that once connected Tibet and Nepal. A five-storey customs building has disappeared, and only part of a nearby water-tower installation remains visible after a tsunami-like mudslide tore through the narrow river gorge at Gyirong.

On Sunday, about 20 Chinese rescue workers in bright orange clothing operated excavators, shovels and ground-penetrating radar. Behind signs warning people to pass quickly through the danger area, teams dug through the mud while red excavators stood ready. Workers had placed a Chinese flag where the nearly 20-metre border gate once stood.

Officials told Reuters that the search area had been divided into seven zones. Teams had completed work in four, with three still to search. On China’s side, 31 people had been confirmed dead and 531 remained missing as of Friday. The missing included 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries, Chinese officials said.

The disaster killed more than 1,300 people on both sides of the border and left more than 5,000 missing. Rescue efforts have been complicated by landslide risks, poor weather, deep mud and the high-altitude setting. Gyirong county lies at an average elevation of more than 4,000 metres, although the port itself sits at about 1,800 metres.

The only road into Gyirong reopened by Wednesday morning, allowing China to bring in heavy equipment for recovery and eventual rebuilding. State media showed workers restoring electricity with temporary poles. The crossing had become the main route for trade and travel between Nepal and Tibet over the past decade, after a 2015 earthquake badly damaged another crossing farther east. It also carried Chinese goods, including electric cars, and thousands of Hindu pilgrims travelling toward Mount Kailash. The port had already closed from July to January after an earlier glacial flood.