BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday ordered all-out efforts to search for and rescue people missing after devastating flash floods swept through villages and towns near the China-Nepal border area in Tibet, causing heavy casualties.
A total of 145 officers and soldiers from the Xigaze detachment of the People's Armed Police have been sent to the affected border port to assist with emergency response operations.
A sudden, massive flood swept through two central Nepal districts bordering Tibet killing at least four people, causing extensive devastation at settlements along the river and damaging at least a dozen hydropower projects early Wednesday.
At least 105 Indians and 37 NRIs are among the nearly 400 persons missing.
Xi called for efforts to evacuate residents at risk and provide timely medical treatment to the injured to minimise casualties.
He made the instructions after a mudslide occurred around 10:30 am on Wednesday, which caused severe casualties and left people unaccounted for at Gyirong border port in Gyirong County, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Xi also stressed the need to strengthen monitoring and early warning, ensure scientific rescue operations and guard against secondary disasters.
China's Tibet Autonomous Region shares a border with Nepal, and a landslide struck near the border crossing between the two countries.
Drone footage showed some buildings at the port buried by debris, Chinese official media reported.
State-run Global Times reported that the local government had dispatched personnel to the disaster-hit area, where communications had been cut off.
The Chinese Embassy in Nepal activated its emergency response mechanism after a flash flood struck the Rasuwa area in northern Nepal, located along the China-Nepal border, on Wednesday morning, the report said.
The embassy assessed the situation of Chinese citizens and enterprises in the affected area and urged the Nepalese government and relevant agencies to carry out rescue efforts.
It also issued a fresh safety advisory to Chinese citizens and institutions in Nepal, the report said.
