Participants at a press conference held by the Information Office of the People's Government of the Xizang Autonomous Region observe a moment of silence on August 30, 2026, for the victims of the deadly mudslide that struck Gyirong Port in Xigaze, Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, on August 26, 2026. Photo: CCTV News

Sixteen people had been confirmed dead and 546 others remained missing as of 6 pm on Saturday after a massive mudslide struck Gyirong Port on the China-Nepal border in Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region on August 26. 

The figure was released at a Sunday press conference held by the information office of the regional government. Participants at the press conference observed a moment of silence for the victims.

The cause of the disaster has been identified. A Chinese Academy of Sciences team found that at around 10:52 am on August 26, a glacier on the southern slope of Langtang Lirung in Nepal fractured at about 5,200 meters, triggering an ice-rock avalanche that plunged to around 4,000 meters, scoured the mountainside and evolved into a massive debris flow, officials from Xizang region said at the conference. 

It traveled about 22 kilometers at high speed before reaching China's Gyirong Port at around 1,800 meters, flattening about 0.7 square kilometers and destroying 27 buildings and related facilities.

The deadly mudslide was triggered by glacier instability driven by long-term climate warming, highlighting a new pattern of cryospheric hazards across the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and surrounding regions, an official from the regional government said at the conference. 

The official noted that the ice-rock avalanche took only about six to seven minutes from its onset to impact Gyirong Port.

Authorities also said 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries had been identified as unaccounted for following the mudslide disaster. They include one Kazakh national, three Malaysians, 104 Nepalis, 49 Indians, four South Africans, two Irish nationals, two Estonians, three Germans, three Russians, two French nationals, one Finn, two Dutch nationals, 33 Latvians, one Lithuanian, one Portuguese national, one Ukrainian, one Spaniard, one Hungarian, 15 Britons, six Canadians, 18 Americans, six Australians and two New Zealanders. China has notified the embassies and consulates of the countries concerned. After multiple rounds of checks across Gyirong County and at the border port, no foreign tourists are currently stranded in the county.

No additional survivors have been found in the ongoing search and rescue operation, Xizang officials said at the conference. 

Global Times