Although the Chinese government initially denied the shooting, the death of one of the refugees was captured on film by a Romanian cameraman Sergiu Matei, who was nearby as part of a climbing expedition.

[1][5] On 30 September 2006, a group of 75 Tibetans, accompanied by two guides, crossed the Chinese border to join the Dalai Lama in exile in Dharamsala, India.

At approximately 10:30 a.m. local time, Chinese border guards of the People's Armed Police opened fire on the group.

The mountaineers were able to produce numerous images and videos of the incident, including images of Chinese soldiers escorting the survivors through advanced base camp at Cho Oyu and footage of the People's Armed Police personnel shooting the refugees from great distance.

On 26 October 2006, the European Union Parliament passed a Joint Motion for a Resolution on Tibet, making explicit reference to the shooting.

[11] A documentary called Tibet: Murder in the Snow, based on this incident, was released in 2008 by the Australian production company 360 Degree Films, working in collaboration with the BBC.

[12] English journalist Jonathan Green wrote a book about the shootings, titled Murder in the High Himalayas, which was released in 2010.