As flash floods hit the Tibet-Nepal border, a CCTV video from Gyirong Port is drawing attention to a police officer’s bravery. In the clip, Huang Peng is seen helping people evacuate before disaster struck. Gyirong Port is used by Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims. Hero Huang remains unaccounted for.

The monster wall of water and mud that gobbled up the Gyirong Port on the Tibet-Nepal border must have come with a sound that would have made even the courageous shudder. But a video showing a Chinese border police officer directing civilians to safety moments before a devastating mudslide struck the land port has drawn attention online, with many hailing the officer as a “hero” for staying behind and helping others evacuate.

The officer was later identified as Huang Peng, a Chinese immigration police officer stationed at Gyirong Port in southwest China’s Xizang region, which is in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). Chinese state-run newspaper Global Times identified Huang in a video published on Friday, saying he stood his ground and continued directing evacuations as the mudslide swept towards the port.

Pilgrims to the Kailash Mansarovar use the Gyirong land port for their yatra. At least 80 Indians are unaccounted for after the flash flood hit the Gyirong port building. Seventy-seven pilgrims, returning from the Kailash pilgrimage, and three staffers of Sadhguru’s Isha Foundation went missing after floodwaters surged through the building.

The Global Times report, published in the form of a video, said Huang “stood his ground to direct evacuations” before the mudslide hit Gyirong Port. The report said he remained missing.

The footage has since been shared by journalists and commentators on X, where Huang has been praised for his actions during the disaster.

WHO WAS HUANG PENG, THE CHINESE HERO AT GYIRONG PORT?

Shen Shiwei, a journalist and commentator on China’s politics and economy, said in a post on X that a Chinese border police officer at Gyirong Port had been seen directing civilians to evacuate to safer areas “until his very last breath”.

In a later post, Shen named the officer and said he was born in 1991 and had worked at Gyirong Port for 13 years.

“RIP. Now we know the hero’s name is Huang Peng,” Shen wrote.

Journalist and political commentator Li Jingjing, who works with China Global Television Network, also identified the officer as Huang in posts on X. She said he was from Chongqing and was born in November 1991.

“We now know the name of this police officer, who, even facing such a scary disaster, insisted on helping others to evacuate till last minute,” Li said in a post on X.

In an earlier post, Jingjing had shared the surveillance footage from Gyirong Port hailing Huang. “Even at the last minute of his life, this border police officer stayed, trying to help other citizens to evacuate,” Li wrote on X.

The video has emerged as China and Nepal continue to deal with the aftermath of massive landslides and flash floods along their border that have caused widespread destruction and left hundreds dead and thousands missing.

Search and rescue operations have been continuing since Wednesday, when the disaster struck.

The disaster has also disrupted rescue operations because of the continuing risk of flooding. A lake formed by rising water along the border briefly overflowed early on Friday, prompting Chinese authorities to suspend rescue efforts, the BBC reported.

INDIAN PILGRIMS TO KAILASH MANSAROVAR WERE AT GYIRONG PORT

The Gyirong land port was a key transit point for Indians undertaking the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. Eighty Indians are unaccounted for after the flash flood swept through the port building, with 77 pilgrims returning from the pilgrimage and three Isha Foundation staffers among those missing.

The pilgrims were at an immigration centre in Gyirong when the flood struck on Wednesday. The group had stopped there while returning from the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage when floodwaters surged through the building, according to Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, founder of the Isha Foundation.

Sadhguru later appealed to Chinese authorities to allow him and a small team of volunteers to travel to Gyirong and assist in the search for the missing pilgrims. He said the families of those unaccounted for wanted to help look for any signs that could provide information about their loved ones.

In an emotional video shared on X, Sadhguru said he was writing in “absolute pain” over the loss of people from his group and that there had been no further information since the floods.

NEPAL TRYING TO PRESERVE, IDENTIFY FLASH FLOOD VICTIMS

The cause of the disaster has been clarified. Initial reports of an earthquake had led to speculation that a tremor triggered the landslide and subsequent flooding. However, the US Geological Survey (USGS) determined that the disaster was caused by a glacial collapse — the disintegration of a glacier or part of one.

The force of the collapsed glacier striking the valley floor was powerful enough to register as a magnitude 5.2 event, according to USGS data cited by the BBC. The resulting debris flow then caused catastrophic impacts downstream.

On the Nepal side, the flooding has carried bodies and debris far downstream, creating a separate challenge for authorities. Bodies have been recovered in several districts along the Trishuli and Narayani river systems, with morgues in some areas reaching or exceeding capacity.

As the toll from the Bhotekoshi floods remains uncertain, Nepal Police has turned to a QR-linked database of recovered bodies, including unidentified remains, giving families a way to compare photographs and physical details with those of relatives still missing.

The flash floods have killed around 600 people so far, while the Ministry of External Affairs said 320 Indians and 100 people of Indian origin remain out of touch.

The footage from Gyirong Port has added a human dimension to the unfolding disaster on the Chinese side. In the video, Huang can be seen directing people away from the danger even as the approaching mudslide threatens the area.

Huang’s actions, however, have led to widespread praise online, with users and commentators describing him as a hero for continuing to help civilians even as the disaster approached.