China has reopened the road leading to the Gyirong border crossing into Nepal, a week after severe flooding washed away sections of the route. This restoration allows heavy machinery to access the main disaster area for the first time, facilitating recovery efforts in the region affected by the flooding.
OVER 30 LATVIAN TOURISTS BELIEVED MISSING Across the border in Tibet, China’s official death toll climbed to 21 on Wednesday, and 541 remained missing. Authorities previously said 104 Nepali citizens, 49 Indians, 33 Latvians and six Canadians were among the people missing.
Showing footage of rescue teams and excavators, CCTV said rescue crews equipped with life-detection devices and search dogs had been deployed. Embassy personnel have not sought to visit the Tibetan disaster site as information received from Nepal suggested the missing Latvians could have been swept away to the Nepali side, he said. Canada said in a statement on Tuesday that its officials were in regular contact with representatives of China’s foreign ministry, who have confirmed that response efforts continue to locate missing Canadians in Gyirong County.
