Restoring road access to mudslide-hit border port remains top priority: official

GYIRONG, Xizang, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Restoring road access to the mudslide-hit Gyirong Port remains the top priority as rescue efforts continue in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, a local official said Tuesday.

Nearly 700 personnel are involved in the effort to reopen the G216 national highway leading to the port on the China-Nepal border, according to Norbu Tsering, deputy head of the emergency rescue headquarters and acting mayor of Xigaze City.

Drone footage seen by Xinhua reporters showed that by around 10:50 a.m. Tuesday, crews had reopened the highway to within 1 km of the port.

The final stretch of the highway to Gyirong Port was severely damaged by the mudslide, cutting off road access and hampering rescue operations in the disaster area.

While road repairs continue, rescuers have spent four consecutive days searching a 0.7-square-kilometer area around the border gate using life detectors and other equipment, Norbu Tsering said.

Heavy rainfall is expected over the next two days, while supplies and additional personnel are being airlifted into the core disaster area to sustain rescue operations.

A deadly mudslide, caused by an ice-rock avalanche in Nepal, hit Gyirong Port on Aug. 26, claiming 16 lives and leaving 546 others missing at the border port as of 6 p.m. Saturday, according to the regional government's latest update.