Officials in the Tibet Autonomous Region confirmed Sunday that 261 foreign visitors representing 23 countries remain unaccounted for on the Chinese side of the border with Nepal after a massive glacier collapse triggered a catastrophic mudslide. The disaster has claimed at least 16 lives in Gyirong County.
During a media briefing, regional representatives reported that Nepalese nationals comprise the largest group of missing foreign citizens at 104, alongside 49 Indians, 33 Latvians, 18 Americans, and 15 Britons.
Chinese diplomatic authorities have formally notified the corresponding embassies regarding their citizens’ status.
The update represents the first demographic breakdown issued by Beijing following Wednesday’s icefall, which unleashed a massive wave of ice, rock, mud, and water down mountain channels. Chinese officials logged 16 confirmed deaths and 546 missing persons in Gyirong County as of Saturday evening.
Meanwhile, Nepal’s national disaster management agency reported at least 675 fatalities, 2,498 missing individuals, and 7,514 successful rescues on its side of the frontier.
Rising water levels along the Trishuli River forced emergency responders and local residents to retreat toward higher ground, local police told Reuters, raising concerns over potential secondary flooding as search operations continue.
According to Chinese state television CCTV, experts attribute the deluge directly to climate change. State media stated on Sunday that the event was “caused by glacier instability under the long-term effects of global warming,” characterizing the destruction as a “new and prominent feature of cryosphere disasters” affecting the Tibetan plateau.
Scientists cited by CCTV estimated that the mudslide swept from Nepal to the Gyirong border checkpoint in just six to seven minutes. Security camera footage from the border crossing showed powerful currents sweeping away buildings as onlookers scrambled to safety.
In a Saturday phone call with his Nepalese counterpart, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi labeled the catastrophe their “most severe cross-border disaster” in recent history, emphasizing that relief efforts faced unprecedented operational hurdles, CCTV reported.
China has dispatched over 2,100 emergency workers and designated at least 220 million yuan ($32.7 million) in disaster funding. Beijing is also providing Nepal with emergency cash, survival supplies, satellite and hydrological tracking data, and specialist tunnel extraction units.
Both nations are coordinating efforts to identify missing nationals while reinforcing joint protocols for disaster management and climate adaptation.
Humanitarian estimates from the Red Cross suggest the cross-border tragedy has impacted more than 90,000 individuals.