Glacier slide on China-Nepal border leaves dozens dead and hundreds missing

Authorities in China's Tibet Autonomous Region said at a press conference that the largest number of missing foreigners were from Nepal, with 104 people, while 49 Indian, 33 Latvian, 18 American and 15 British nationals were also missing. They added that authorities in Beijing have notified foreign diplomatic missions.

The separation by nationality was the first on the Chinese side since a glacier collapse on Wednesday, which unleashed a torrent of ice, rocks, mud and debris into Himalayan rivers.

Authorities reported that 16 people had died in Gyirong County as of Saturday night and that 546 were missing.

In Nepal, the disaster management authority said at least 734 people had died on its side of the border, 2,498 were missing and 7,514 had been rescued.

Local police told Reuters that residents and rescuers had moved to higher ground after water levels in the nearby Trishuli River rose in recent hours, highlighting the risk of further flooding even as rescue work continued.

The disaster was "caused by the instability of glaciers under the long-term effects of global warming", Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday, saying it was a "new and prominent feature of cryosphere disasters" on the Tibetan Plateau.

CCTV reported, citing the findings of Chinese scientists, that the mudslide from the Nepalese side took six to seven minutes to reach the Gyirong border crossing.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Nepali counterpart in a phone call on Saturday that the landslide was the "most serious cross-border disaster" to occur between the two countries in recent years and that rescue operations presented unprecedented difficulties and complexities, CCTV reported.

China has mobilized more than 2,100 rescuers and allocated at least 220 million yuan ($32.7 million) to support relief efforts. The country is also providing emergency financial aid, disaster supplies, satellite and hydrological data and tunnel rescue experts to Nepal, the state broadcaster reported.

Countries are working together to identify missing citizens and foreigners, as well as strengthen cooperation in preventing and mitigating disasters and responding to climate change, CCTV reported.