Death toll rises to 579; Australians from Sydney, Melbourne remain missing; China, Nepal resume rescues

A Chinese rescue team reaching the all-but-obliterated Gyirong border crossing complex for the first time on Friday and found “nothing but ruins”.

A glacier collapse on Wednesday unleashed a huge torrent of rock, ice, mud and debris through Himalayan mountain river systems.

Surveillance camera footage from the worst-hit Gyirong border crossing complex showed huge torrents of water and debris engulfing buildings and people trying to flee.

Only on Friday were rescuers able to reach that area. State media reported that the Chinese team of 21 rescuers and a search-and-rescue dog crossed mountains and valleys and used ropes to navigate forests and cliffs after roads to the complex, hemmed in by steep Himalayan slopes, were destroyed.

“There was no road … it was all virgin forest and sheer cliffs,” rescue worker Zou Mingqi said. At the complex, “as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but ruins”.

Reuters