Flash floods in Nepal: 320 Indians missing, 400 others stranded on Chinese side: MEA
21 Indians arrive in New Delhi on Friday afternoon, a day after they reached Kathmandu from the flood-affected areas of Nepal
As many as 320 Indian nationals still remain uncontactable in flood-ravaged Nepal while 21 tourists from Tamil Nadu who were rescued from the disaster zone a day back reached New Delhi on Friday.
The figure was disclosed by Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, who said the situation remained “dynamic” and the lists of missing people or the actual death toll of Indians in the calamity were still being reconciled.
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Jaiswal said another 63 Indian nationals working at the Trishuli-I hydropower project had been rescued on Thursday. Besides, 96 Indians stranded on the Chinese side have safely crossed into Nepal by land, with efforts now under way to evacuate them.
“As far as the number of people who we are not able to contact or who are missing, the figure at this point is 320,” Jaiswal said.
He added that around 100 people of Indian origin holding foreign nationalities also remained uncontactable. Some of them were believed to have travelled for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.
Separately, around 400 Indian nationals on the Chinese side were reported to be safe, with the Indian Embassy in Beijing in touch with their team leaders, travel agents, and Chinese authorities to facilitate their evacuation.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar welcomed the 21 Tamil Nadu tourists upon their arrival in Delhi and heard their accounts of the ordeal. “I was deeply moved upon hearing their experiences firsthand,” Jaishankar said, thanking the Nepali Army and the Nepal government for the rescue operation. He also commended the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu for coordinating their return.
Jaishankar said he had reviewed the relief and rescue operations in Nepal and received an updated assessment of Indian nationals from the Indian missions in Kathmandu and Beijing. He said further relief supplies were also being prepared for Nepal, with the safety of Indians being accorded the “highest priority”.
The Indian effort comes as Nepal grapples with a staggering toll from the Bhotekoshi flash floods. According to Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, 538 bodies had been recovered by 3 pm on Friday, while 977 people remained missing and 3,742 had been rescued.
Meanwhile, fears of another flash flood briefly rattled rescue operations in Rasuwa after Nepal received information from the Chinese side that another water body had burst on the Tibetan side.
The Nepal Police issued an alert to security personnel, rescue workers and people in the affected areas, asking them to remain vigilant and immediately move to safer locations.
The warning led to the suspension of rescue operations for around three hours amid concerns over a possible fresh surge downstream.
However, Nepal and China subsequently resumed rescue operations after authorities assessed the risk posed by an overflowing lake to be manageable.
Rasuwa Chief District Officer Narendra Pariyar, according to Nepalese media reports, confirmed that information about the latest “lake burst” had been received from the Chinese side.
The fresh alert came barely two days after devastating flash floods in the Rasuwa region left hundreds dead or missing and caused widespread destruction, raising concerns over possible cross-border water surges from the Tibetan side.
With hundreds still missing, Indian and Nepali authorities are continuing efforts to reconcile lists, establish contact with stranded people and evacuate those rescued from affected and border areas.
