China has reopened the only road leading to the Gyirong border crossing with Nepal, a week after catastrophic floods and mudslides tore through the area.
The reopening of the G216 national highway on Wednesday, 2 September marks a major step in rescue efforts, allowing heavy machinery to reach some of the worst-hit areas for the first time.
The floods struck on 26 August after a glacier collapse triggered mudslides and sent torrents of water through river systems on both sides of the China-Nepal border.
Rescue crews worked around the clock to restore the road through a narrow mountain gorge, despite heavy rain, unstable cliffs and a fast-flowing river.
China had relied on air drops to deliver equipment and supplies to rescuers while soldiers used life-detection devices to search for people still missing.
Authorities said the risk from potentially dangerous upstream lakes had eased, although landslides remained a concern.
With the road now open, large numbers of excavators and other heavy equipment have reached the site of the former Chinese border inspection complex.
Search teams using specialist detection equipment and sniffer dogs are working across the border area, riverbanks, ravines and damaged road corridors.
China said on Sunday, 30 August that 546 people remained unaccounted for in Tibet, including 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries. At least 16 people had been confirmed dead. The disaster has also caused a devastating loss of life in neighbouring Nepal, where the death toll surpassed 1,000 on Wednesday to at least 1,114 people.
Nearly 4,000 remain unaccounted for, with Nepalese officials fearing many are buried under debris at towns and valleys near the Chinese border.
The reopening of the road is expected to accelerate rescue and recovery work as crews continue searching for survivors and those still missing.
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