At least eight people killed in Tibet avalanche, search on for the missing

Mainland sends disaster response team to help seatch and rescue operation

File: Prayer flags left by local Buddhists in Nyingchi (EPA)

At least eight people were killed in an avalanche in Nyingchi in the southwestern region of Tibet, prompting the Chinese government to send a rescue team to find the missing.

Local authorities said the snowslide trapped people in their vehicles in the Nyingchi region, located 3,040 metres above sea level.

The avalanche took place on a section of road between Pai village in Mainling county and the exit of the Doxong La tunnel in Medog county on Tuesday evening.

A total of 131 rescuers and 28 emergency vehicles were pressed into the rescue operation overnight, although it wasn't clear how many people remained missing.

China’s ministry of emergency management dispatched a disaster response team to the autonomous region and called for full-scale efforts in the rescue, according to state media Global Times.

By Wednesday evening, emergency rescue headquarters had reportedly dispatched 246 rescuers, over 70 vehicles, 10 pieces of large-scale equipment and 994 search devices to excavate a rescue passage of 350 metre to rescue those trapped.

Avalanches are common occurrences in the Himalayan region. In January, two labourers were killed in an avalanche in India administered Kashmir region.

At least 26 people died in October 2022 as a mountaineering expedition was caught in an avalanche on Mount Draupadi ka Danda-II in India.