A glacier in Nepal collapsed at an altitude of about 5,200 meters around 10:52 a.m. on Wednesday, triggering an ice-rock avalanche, Su Pengcheng, a researcher at the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, told reporters at a news conference on Sunday.

A team from the institute made the finding by analyzing remote sensing monitoring data and information relayed from the site and conducting on-site surveys.

The ice-rock avalanche plunged rapidly from high altitude, eroding the mountainside and developing into a massive mudslide. After surging about 22 kilometers at high speed, the mudslide reached Gyirong Port in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, at an altitude of around 1,800 meters.

It flattened an area of about 0.7 square kilometers, destroying 27 buildings and associated facilities.