China confirms 43 dead in mudslide, Tibetan resident says 26 dead in just one village

Read a version of this story in Tibetan As Chinese officials raised the official death toll from the Nepal-Tibet mudslide to 43 on Saturday, a Tibetan resident told RFA on Sunday that 26 people died in Risur village, Kyirong county, alone, where the Kyirong (Gyirong in Chinese) border post is located.

Because entry into the immediate disaster zone was restricted, the Tibetan resident told RFA that he had to trek around the mountain for about three hours to search for relatives, but could not find them.

“Many people have gone missing. We are currently staying in Kyirong town. Search and rescue operations are ongoing, but victims are not being found,” he told RFA Tibetan on the condition of anonymity for security reasons.

“People are missing, properties are gone, and nothing is left,” he added. “For about two days, I couldn’t bring myself to believe it.”

A Chinese resident from Kyirong Port, who wasn’t at the border crossing when the mudslide occurred, told RFA, “No one at the border checkpoint appears to have survived.”

He said that about 800 people lived there. “We are waiting for official information, as there is no other way to get updates,” the Chinese resident said, speaking to RFA Tibetan on the condition of anonymity for security reasons.

“Ten shops and four restaurants were washed away,” he said.

Exiled Tibetans and advocacy groups have accused China of underreporting casualty totals on the Tibetan side of the border.

Reuters said that families and diplomats representing countries with missing nationals have privately expressed growing frustration over what they describe as limited information-sharing by China.

China’s foreign ministry organized the first trip for international media to Kyirong, which sits on a narrow river gorge, on Sunday.

According to the Reuters news agency, the mudslide has killed more than 1,300 people on both sides of the border, with more than 5,000 missing.

As of Saturday, 519 remained missing on the Chinese side. Among those still unaccounted for were 261 foreigners from 23 countries, officials said.

Harrowing stories of survival emerged from the border region as residents recounted running from the mudslide and seeing family members washed away.

Edited by Charlie Dharapak