On the ground in China’s wiped-out border zone, the fate of hundreds is still unknown

By Simone McCarthy, CNN

Gyirong Port, China (CNN) — A rock-strewn crevasse is all that remains of what used to be Gyirong Port.

The high-altitude hub has been completely washed from existence, leaving a moonscape of stones, gravel and sludge still being searched by emergency workers, as witnessed by a CNN team that gained access to the site on Sunday as part of a government-organized visit.

Reporters were given hard hats and boots, to contend with the still-unstable mud-caked ground, and the ever-present risk of further landslides.

This border crossing was once a bustling nexus for tourists and traders moving between China and Nepal. Hundreds of people would typically pass through each day going to or from Nepal’s Rasuwa port, just across the river.

All that changed on August 26, when the port was engulfed by an enormous wave of water – as the first point of impact from a landslide and explosive flooding that then ripped into Nepal. People were seen in devastating surveillance footage fleeing for their lives as the deluge struck.

No survivors have been found at the port, which has become a focal point for families both in China and around the world desperate for any information about loved ones they believe were at the checkpoint when tragedy struck.

Entering the disaster area, heavy dust and fog fill the air. Numerous rescue vehicles are at the site and officials everywhere direct traffic. The road, completely destroyed, has been covered in gravel to make it passable.

A makeshift memorial to the victims has been erected, covered with about 100 yellow flowers. Planted in a mound of debris, fluttering in the unforgiving wind, was the red-and-yellow Chinese flag.

The hulking, five-story border checkpoint facility, which loomed over the surrounding area in the grand style of Chinese government facilities, has been obliterated. All that can be seen of the building now is the vestiges of its foundations.

“All we could see afterward, once we started digging, was the foundation that remained,” rescue worker Zhang Xiaojun told CNN at the scene.

“All of the structures above it had been swept away by the mudslide. It was really heartbreaking to see. So many of our fellow Chinese lost their precious lives in this disaster.”

The destruction was similar across the rest of this place, which once had travel agencies, a supermarket and a bridge that connected China and Nepal. They have all been flattened, overwritten by the wall of mud and water that claimed everything in its path.

“The most difficult part has been the conditions at the rescue site,” said Yang Qiqiao, commander of the ground assault team who has been working there since August 28, two days after the disaster happened.

“First, there’s a lot of mud and silt. There are also a lot of boulders, and we’re facing some secondary hazards as well. The geology here is not particularly stable.”

Information about who was impacted here has been slow to emerge from the port, cutting a contrast with Nepal where there have been frequent updates on the numbers of rescued or confirmed dead.

As of China’s latest update nearly two days ago, there were 31 people confirmed dead and 531 missing on its side of the border. More than 250 foreigners are among the missing, local authorities in Tibet said earlier in the week.

Chinese authorities have yet to publicly release a list of names of those who were at the port at the time or who are believed to be missing on this side of the border. That’s prompted questions about transparency – especially from families who are desperate for news of missing loved ones.

Beijing has defended its release of information from its remote disaster area as open and timely. Its invitation to a group of around a dozen reporters from international news outlets – including CNN – for Sunday’s carefully arranged visit to the area is part of an effort to show the rescue operations going on at the port.

The trip is jointly organized by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and State Council Information Office. While CNN is joining an itinerary planned by the officials to access this restricted area, it maintains full editorial control.

More than 1,000 people have been confirmed dead and thousands remain missing after the catastrophe, according to authorities in both countries.

The trip here has underscored now remote this region is – and how difficult it was for rescue workers to respond.

Just getting to this part of Tibet is an effort; the distances in this region are vast. The CNN team joining this trip drove roughly eight hours from the Tibetan regional capital of Lhasa to Dingri, a city near the Nepal border on Saturday, through altitudes of up to 13,000 feet (nearly 4 kilometers). Getting to the port, which is at a lower elevation of 6,000 feet, took another six hours from Dingri, which has the closest airport.

A narrow, double-lane road leading to the port winds along pine-covered mountains, with countless hairpin turns. These roads were only cleared on Wednesday – seven days after disaster struck – finally allowing thousands of rescue workers to enter the zone along with heavy machinery. Previously, a smaller number of responders trekked in or arrived by boat or aircraft.

“We reached the core area on foot because the road had been washed away. We had to trek through the mountains and cross over them to get to the hardest-hit area.“ Yang told CNN on Sunday.

Rescue efforts in the past 11 days have also been slowed or stalled at times by the risk of secondary disasters, including landslides and breaches of new, so-called barrier lakes that formed after debris and mud dammed parts of a nearby river. Those conditions, as well as heavy rains and mountainous terrain, made access even by air difficult at times.

“We’re mainly focused on intensive search and rescue operations at this stage,” said Zhang, who has been working at the site since access opened on Wednesday.

“Our approach is to dig one layer, search that layer, and then clear it before moving on to the next. We’re digging very carefully, searching thoroughly and clearing the debris layer by layer to see if we can find any of the deceased.”

Authorities have also warned of potential further collapse around the glacier on Langtang Lirung mountain in Nepal, which cracked and broke off, triggering the August 26 landslide and flooding.

Last month’s disaster may be a catalyst for more intensive monitoring of these risks, as well as shared data and early-warning systems between China and Nepal, especially as the risk of natural disasters is growing and becoming more unpredictable with climate change.

But for now, the focus remains on recovery – and for the families of the missing, getting information about what happened to their loved ones, including those who are believed to have been in Gyirong Port on that fateful morning.

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