China-Nepal highway reopens after quake damage

LHASA - Vehicles carrying quake relief goods started to enter Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital, from China's border on Sunday afternoon, after China's armed police successfully removed quake debris blocking the China-Nepal Highway in Nepal.

Chinese armed traffic police entered Nepal at the beginning of the month to aid in earthquake relief. Their first mission was to reopen the road connecting the border pass between Zham in Tibet and Kathmandu.

General Fu Ling of the traffic police and his Nepalese counterpart jointly announced traffic had resumed on Sunday.

Fu said a total of 500 Chinese police officers using 180 pieces of heavy machinery had cleared the road on May 8. However, a strong aftershock on May 12 triggered more landslides and road damage.

Police officers have braved falling rocks to remove 160,000 cubic meters of debris and repair the 48 km long highway.

On Sunday, the police helped transport 2.5 tonnes of rice as well as other fast food from Zham to Kathmandu.

Fu said his team will continue to monitor highway traffic.

The China-Nepal Highway, with a total length of 943 kilometers including 829 km in Tibet, was severely damaged in the earthquake on April 25.

The death toll from Nepal's latest May 12 quake climbed to 136, bringing the total death toll from both major earthquakes to 8,485 and the number of injured to 101,182, said Nepal's Ministry of Home Affairs in its latest update.