A directing group from the Western Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has been dispatched to the Xizang Autonomous Region in southwest China on Thursday morning to coordinate joint rescue operations by military personnel in mudslide-hit Gyirong County.

Carried by the Y-20 transport aircraft of the western theater command, the group will organize military forces to assist in disaster relief efforts.

The mudslide, which occurred on Wednesday, has resulted in three people dead and 265 missing in Gyirong, according to initial estimates.