BEIJING: Chinese authorities penalised 10 people accused of spreading misinformation online about a deadly mudslide along the Nepal border, police said Monday (Aug 31), as rescuers scour for hundreds missing at a border crossing on the Tibetan side.
The penalties, which could range from fines to 10 days in detention, come as rescuers on both sides of the border pressed on with search operations after a devastating wall of water tore through parts of Nepal and Tibet in China last week, sweeping away entire villages.
Rumours shared by the 10 individuals suggested the number of missing or dead was vastly more than officially reported figures, according to a statement by the cybersecurity bureau of China's Ministry of Public Security.
One individual, surnamed Qiu, had shared online that "the news reports 1,400 fatalities, but in reality 3,000 people had previously been reported missing", while another surnamed Liu had said more than 3,000 people died in China as a result of the mudslide, the statement added.
Authorities did not specify what punishment each person received.
The floods have killed at least 903 people in Nepal, where 4,247 people are missing, according to the country's disaster authority.
Another 16 have died and 546 people are missing in Chinese-administered Tibet, where the mudslide flattened an area of "about 0.7 square kilometres" -- the equivalent of 98 football pitches, Chinese state media reported.
Asked about international reports that China was censoring images of the floods and underreporting deaths, Beijing's foreign ministry said on Monday that the "release of information has been open, transparent and timely".
"Malicious smearing and sensationalism using the disaster situation will not receive popular support," ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a news conference.
Tibet, an autonomous region of China, is largely inaccessible to foreign journalists, preventing independent reporting on the scale of the disaster in an area which has multiple villages.
China's Xinhua news agency reported earlier Monday that emergency workers were racing against time and the odds to search for survivors.
Rescuers were "pushing forward into the core disaster area" despite challenges such as "high-altitude terrain, steep valleys and volatile weather", it added.
They were "carrying out road mud removal, search and rescue operations, hazard identification, disinfection and epidemic prevention, as well as clearing and restoring damaged routes" in Tibet.
Gyirong, the county hardest hit by the mudslide, is expected to see some rainfall in the next few days, a National Meteorological Center forecaster said on Sunday, warning that rescuers may face slippery roads.
Videos published by state broadcaster CCTV showed rescue workers with sniffer dogs trudging through the debris in valleys where the mudslide had swept through.
In other areas, rescuers were seen wading through thick mud, while others repaired power lines.
Communication had been restored in Gyirong port, Xinhua said Sunday night.
Of those missing in Tibet, 261 were foreign nationals, including 104 from Nepal, 49 from India, 33 from Latvia, and 18 from the United States.
Workers near the port had been "moved to a safe location" Sunday, after a new lake was formed by a landslide.
But the lake "has naturally overflowed and basically emptied", the Ministry of Emergency Management said Sunday night.
President Xi Jinping said on Monday that China is making every effort to search for those missing on its side of the border. - AFP
