49 Indians among 261 foreigners missing after flash flood on Tibet-Nepal border

Chinese officials on Sunday said 261 foreign nationals, including 49 Indians, remained unaccounted for after a catastrophic flash flood struck Gyirong Port, one of the main border crossings between Nepal and Tibet, on August 26.

The 261 foreigners are from 23 countries, Chinese officials told a media briefing at Gyirong, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The media briefing was held after a joint search and cross-checking of information by foreign affairs, public security, culture and tourism, and emergency management authorities.

Those unaccounted for include 104 people from Nepal, 49 from India, 33 from Latvia, 18 from the United States, 15 from Britain, six from Canada, six from Australia, four from South Africa, three each from Malaysia, Germany and Russia, two each from Ireland, Estonia, France, Netherlands, New Zealand, and one each from Kazakhstan, Finland, Lithuania, Portugal, Ukraine, Spain and Hungary, it reported.

A large number of Indian pilgrims were visiting Tibet to take part in the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra after ties between China and India improved.

Some of the Indian pilgrims were reportedly at the immigration building at the Tibet-Nepal border when the flood struck the region, wreaking havoc in Gyirong County in Tibet.

Videos of the giant flash flood engulfing the sprawling immigration building went viral globally.