Rescue efforts continue in Nepal-China border

Resue efforts continue, following Wednesday's mudslide in the Nepal-China border.

At least 16 people were killed and 546 missing in Xizang, also known as Tibet, in China.

In Nepal, at least 752 people have died and around 2,500 remain unaccounted for.

Chinese officials observed a moment of silence for the victims at the mudslide before they outlined the ongoing search and rescue efforts at the latest press conference.

In Gyirong County in Xizang, also known as Tibet, officials identified at least 260 missing foreign nationals from 23 countries and have notified relevant nations.

Authorities say some 555 domestic tourists were evacuated from Gyirong and currently, no foreign tourists remain stranded in Gyirong.

They say the biggest risk rescuers face now is a barrier lake formed by debris above the core area of the border crossing -- but it has already released some water.

Officials say the likelihood of a complete breach is relatively low.

The presser also revealed it took just six to seven minutes for the ice-and-rock avalanche to strike the Gyirong border crossing.

Experts concluded the calamity was caused by climate warming -- which destabilised and fractured a glacier on the northern slope of Langtang Lirung Peak on the Nepalese side -- which has been determined the source of the mudslide.

As the avalanche plunged from an altitude of around 5,200 metres, it scoured the mountainside and formed a massive mudslide for 22 km before sweeping the Gyirong border. The mudslide also decimated multiple hydropower projects along the Nepal border.

Excavators and detection equipment were deployed to facilitate rescue work.

Holes were drilled to deliver oxygen, food and other supplies to those trapped.

Altogether, nearly 900 workers are missing, believed to still be trapped at construction sites.

More than 300 people have so far been rescued.

Meanwhile, amid the devastation, a six-year-old girl was extricated from the rubble of a collapsed building near a border patrol station on the Nepal side at an altitude of 2,200 metres last Friday.

But the girl's parents' whereabouts remain unknown.

China's first batch of disaster relief supplies, including tents, blankets, dry food and first-aid kits, reached Nepal's capital Kathmandu.

The second batch of Chinese tunnel rescue experts are also heading to the disaster area in Nepal to assist.