Border area between Nepal and China where 33 Australians are missing still almost entirely cut off

Rescuers wade through deep mud while carrying out search and rescue operations at the mudslide-hit Gyirong Port. Photograph: Lhasa fire and rescue mobile detachment/Xinhua/AP

It has been almost a week since the catastrophic floods in Nepal and not even a vehicle can get into the area where the majority of missing Australians were last heard from.

Gyirong Port, the border area between Nepal and China, was the first to be hit. Images from Chinese rescue teams who have managed to get in by helicopter or hiking show the area has been completely flattened. The immigration building, the power lines, everything, just wiped away.