The death toll in Nepal’s apocalyptic flooding has risen to 579, with around 2,500 people still missing, including dozens of Americans and other foreign nationals. Atleast 320 Indians have been reportedly missing, and 400 others are stranded at the Nepal-China border.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said 96 Indian nationals who were stranded on the Chinese side have safely crossed over to Nepal by land route. “Twenty-one Indians arrived in New Delhi this afternoon, a day after they reached Kathmandu from the flood-affected areas of Nepal”, he said.
Visuals have been making rounds showing devastated neighbourhoods and families anxiously waiting for news of their loved ones, with lists and photographs displayed on a morgue wall. Monsoon storms are expected in the area this weekend.
Authorities in Nepal have been closely monitoring the situation following Wednesday’s devastating landslide. A second flood warning has been issued. The newly formed bodies of water are located upstream of an area where hundreds of people were killed by catastrophic floods on the Nepal-China border on Wednesday.
Rescue operations are underway around Trishuli Barrack, which has become the nerve centre of rescue efforts, with hundreds of people waiting for news of their missing loved ones. On Friday, 10 military and seven civilian helicopters made more than 200 trips and rescued about 900 people, according to a Nepal Army official.
Later on Saturday morning, a handful of people gathered outside the barrack, but as clouds and rain moved in, the flights appeared to have paused. In the capital city, medicine and other relief materials were being sent to flood-affected areas.
India’s third tranche of 10 tonnes of relief supplies to flood-ravaged Nepal has reached Kathmandu, alongside an 11-member team of doctors and paramedics and a reconnaissance crew to assess tunnel rescue operations.
Earlier on Wednesday and Thursday, New Delhi had sent 10 tonnes of HADR (Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief) materials to the neighbouring country, while another consignment of 37.5 tonnes of relief supplies was sent on Thursday.Visuals have been making rounds showing devastated neighbourhoods and families anxiously waiting for news of their loved ones, with lists and photographs displayed on a morgue wall. Monsoon storms are expected in the area this weekend.