NEW DELHI: Death toll in the catastrophic Nepal-Tibet flood rose to 389 by late Thursday, Nepal police said, as rescuers continued searching for hundreds swept away or cut off along the Bhote Koshi-Trishuli corridor. Three casualties are on the Tibet side, China confirmed, bringing the total number of victims to 392.Latest available National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority tally put 910 people missing or “out of contact” in Nepal, which includes MEA’s assessment of 288 Indian citizens remaining “uncontactable” as of late Thursday evening. Nepal has not released a nationality-wise breakup of those dead, leaving the number of Indian fatalities, if any, unconfirmed.Across the border in Tibet, Chinese authorities reported 558 people missing as of Thursday morning. Beijing too has not released a country-wise breakup, making it unclear how many Indians or citizens of other countries figured in the missing list. Another 200-odd Indians are stranded in Tibet.India’s 288 “uncontactable citizens” in Nepal included 73 working at Trishuli-1 hydropower project, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
With no roads, search teams face severe access issues
Among the others were tourists and pilgrims travelling in groups to or from Mount Kailash in Tibet, many from Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Kerala.By 1pm Thursday, 21 tourists from Tamil Nadu had been rescued and were being brought to Kathmandu. The 200 Indians stranded on the Tibetan side have separately sought assistance from Indian authorities.Nepal Tourism Board’s list was narrower: it recorded 178 Indians missing or out of contact. The difference arose because India’s 288 figure also covered hydropower workers and other groups outside Nepal’s tourism-based count. Indians formed the largest nationality group on Nepal’s tourist list. Nepal PM Balendra Shah said 573 people were rescued through 69 air sorties Thursday, with additional military and private helicopters kept on standby.
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Temporary camps were providing food, water and basic supplies, while injured people were receiving free treatment.“Our top priority right now is the life of every citizen, search and rescue of the missing, treatment of the injured, and immediate relief to affected families,” Shah said. As families searched for missing relatives, Nepal Police circulated a QR code linking to its online database of unidentified and unclaimed bodies. The site crashed soon after and remained unavailable at 10pm local time. Search teams have faced severe access problems after the flood destroyed roads and bridges, knocked out power and communications and isolated settlements in the upper valley.Families gathered at hospitals and Army centres in Kathmandu and Nuwakot, checking lists of survivors, injured people and unidentified bodies as information from remote areas remained patchy.