As of 6 pm on Thursday, about 800 meters of the 3-kilometer section of road leading to the Gyirong port had been cleared. To navigate the remaining section, Xizang's transportation department dispatched four emergency buses and three trucks for transporting personnel and rescue materials.

　　The China Anneng rescue team rushed to the hardest-hit area, bringing 120 sets of advanced equipment, including multifunctional survey drones, 3D laser scanners, life-detection devices, large excavators and loaders.

　　Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Thursday that China and Nepal are in close communication and coordinating efforts for search and rescue operations.

　　Police authorities in Nepal said that as of 5 pm on Thursday, the death toll from flash floods there reached 359, with hundreds more people still missing.

　　Lin said that nearly 100 Chinese nationals remained missing on the Nepalese side of the border after the mudslide, adding that the Chinese embassy is seeking further verification from the Nepalese authorities.

　　Beijing is ready to provide emergency assistance based on the needs of Kathmandu, said the ministry spokesman.

Workers repair a damaged road leading to the Gyirong border port in Shigatse, Xizang autonomous region, on Thursday, after a mudslide cut off access and disrupted communications and power supplies. TENTSEN SHINDEN/XIZANG DAILY

　　According to China's Ministry of Natural Resources, the disaster began with a high-altitude glacier collapse in Nepal. The falling ice and rock traveled rapidly down a mountain slope, collecting loose glacial debris along its path and developing into a debris flow before becoming a mudslide.