China sets up DNA, hotline mechanism for foreigners missing in Nepal-Tibet disaster

China has informed foreign embassies about procedures for collecting DNA samples from relatives of foreign nationals missing after last month’s deadly floods and mudslides along the Nepal-Tibet border, Beijing said Monday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Chinese authorities were continuing search and identification operations in the Xizang Autonomous Region, also known as Tibet.

“China has informed the relevant foreign embassies in China of the procedures for collecting DNA samples from the families of the missing individuals,” Guo told reporters in Beijing.

If remains of foreign victims are recovered and their identities confirmed, the relevant embassies will be promptly notified about arrangements for handling the deceased, he added.

Authorities in Xizang have also set up a hotline to assist the families of missing foreign nationals.

On the Nepalese side, 1,385 people have been confirmed dead and 5,130 remain missing, according to the latest figures published by Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) on a government flood-update portal.

The authority said 13,676 people had been rescued, while 21,022 security personnel were mobilized for search, rescue and relief operations.

Among those missing in Nepal were 587 foreign tourists. Authorities said the missing-person count remains subject to verification and may include unidentified bodies and people who have already been rescued.

On the Chinese side, the death toll remains at 43, with 519 people missing, including 261 foreigners, in Xizang.

The disaster struck on August 26 when a glacier on Nepal's Mount Langtang Lirung fractured at an altitude of about 5,200 meters (17,060 feet).

The fracture triggered an ice-rock avalanche that turned into a massive debris flow and swept through valleys along the border.

Floodwaters and mudslides devastated Nepal's Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading and Kavre districts, as well as the Kathmandu Valley.

The disaster also buried the Gyirong border crossing in Xizang.