Nepal flood: 175 dead, 178 Indians missing; Minister details rescue

"One of largest natural disasters we have experienced," Nepal Foreign Minister Sishir Khanal details Govt response to flood devastation

Kathmandu, August 27

Nepal Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal, while speaking to NDTV News Network at the 'Anviksha' dialogue in Kathmandu, said the impact of the devastation was huge and the government is still gauging the depth of the tragedy.

"I sit here with a lot of heavy heart, a lot of pain and sorrow and in empathy with thousands of Nepali families who are still unclear about the status of the devastation. What we know is towns after towns have been completely wiped out in a span of a couple of hours. Thousands of people are still reported out of contact or missing. As of this morning, 160 people have lost their lives, but we fear more numbers will flow in this afternoon. We know that thousands of families have lost their homes. The rivers have been swept away, many of the communities are out of access at this stage. So we are still trying to grasp the scale and depth of disaster, but what I can say is this is one of the largest and most natural disasters we have experienced in most recent memory," he said.

The Nepal Tourism Board on Thursday said that 178 Indian nationals are among those who have gone missing in the aftermath of the sudden flooding. Among citizens from other countries 53 from Ukraine, 35 from Australia and 25 from Canada have also been reported missing.

"Many Indian nationals, as well as other nationals - those particularly who were either going to or were returning from Mansarovar Kailash Yatra are missing. At this point, an estimated about 500 foreign nationals are out of contact. Closer to 300 among them are Indian nationals. Because many of these areas have been out of contact, we do not know the current status. We know that many are in that area, alive, but we have not been able to fully establish contact yet. We are coordinating with the Indian Embassy here, as well as our other national embassies in Kathmandu. I have also personally been in contact with governments across the world who have both called, sent messages expressing their solidarity with Nepal as well as concern about the safety of their citizens. As we establish contact today, we should be able to share more details, but what I've communicated is that the government of Nepal is equally committed to the safety and security of our friends in India as well as from around the world," Khanal said.

The Nepal Minister expressed his gratitude for assistance recieved from India and other nations as the Himalayan Nation comes to terms with the tragedy and said that Nepal continues to be open for tourists.

"Right now, a lot of our focus is on rescue and immediate relief. But at the same time, this particular disaster has struck in one particular area of Nepal, and many friends from around the globe, including the Nepali diaspora but other nationals and governments, are calling us, asking how they can support. And one of the ways to support, obviously, sort of the immediate relief support, the way the Government of India already sent relief last night. We, as a government, we have expressed our deepest gratitude to such relief. So that kind of relief and longer-term reconstruction support will be required. But at the same time, one of the best ways to support countries like Nepal in a moment of crisis, beyond being generous, is also being continuously engaged with us, whether through tourism or other areas. Because at the end of the day, the most resilient Nepal that we take pride in, every time there's been a disaster, we've come back.," he said

"What I wanted to also share with the friends in India and around the world is that many of our communities are not impacted. Cities like Pokhara are not impacted. Your visit to these locations would not only support local families and the local economy, but also strengthen and build a resilient economy for Nepal. Kathmandu, Pokhara, Chitwan, Lumbini, and most of our communities where most of our tourists go, or the Annapurna Circuit road, or the Mount Everest region--all of these areas are unimpacted, and one way you can support also is to spend your tourism dollar in Nepal over the next few months," Nepal Minister Shisir Khanal added.

Earlier this April, Khanal had spoken at the Indian Ocean Conference and highlighted melting Himalayan glaciers and downstream impacts and warned about the potential dangers of glacial lake outburst. The Minister once again called on the countries in the region to address the vulnerability of the region to climate change.

"China, Nepal, India, Bhutan - we are connected by ecology, and our shared survival and future depends on protecting this Himalayan ecology. And we have to take--we have to come together. I mean, there could be political rivalry, competition; there could be different political ideology between us, but at the end of the day, the Himalayan region is one of the most vulnerable areas in terms of climate change. Temperature rises are one of the highest in the world, and as these ice melts, as these glaciers flood continuously happen, it not only sort of converts into disaster like this, it will eventually have impact on freshwater accessibility of our community to about 2 billion people in our region," he said.

Meanwhile, the Nepal Government has aggressively scaled up search, rescue, and relief operations using military and private sector helicopters alongside ground troops from the Nepal Army, Nepal Police, and Armed Police Force (APF), who operated through the night to reach stranded individuals in Timure and Syaphrubesi.

— ANI