290 Indians out of contact after Nepal floods: MEA

Kathmandu, Aug 27 (IANS) As many as 290 Indians have remained out of contact in the aftermath of the deadly floods in the Bhote Koshi river, which have left a trail of destruction across the Himalayan country, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday. 

The Ministry also said that 63 Indian workers at the Trishuli-I project in Rasuwa district are among those affected, including 21 from Tamil Nadu who had travelled for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.

The MEA also made public a list of rescued Indian nationals. They include: Sumit Kumar Khare; Mukesh Kumar; Sachin Kumar; Jashmant Singh; Chandan Tiwari; Devan Kumar Shah; Amrendra Kumar Yadav; Om Prakash Yadav; Sampat Kumar; Neeraj Kumar Thakur; Jay Hansda; Sunil Kumar Singh; Upendra Barnmal; Rahul Kumar Gupta; Neeraj Kumar Patel; Sanover Alam; Upendra Bhasin; Yogesh Kumar; Md Akram Alam; Md Inzamamul Haque; Abhishek Kumar; Abhishek Yadav; Mangal Singh; Pankaj Kumar Shah; Nilesh Kumar; Ashutosh Mankopadhyay; Lakshman Tiwari and Ganguli Patel.

Likewise, other individuals rescued include: Indrajeet Kumar; Gyan Singh; Jay Krishna; Shahrukh; Nipindra Mandal; Saddam Hussain; Raj Kumar Tiwari; Alok Kumar Shah; Arun Kumar Shah; Satyendra Kumar Singh; Bittu Kumar; Adi Abed Basumatary; KK Pandey; Abhishek Tiwari; Akash; Pradeep; Ranjan Kumar; Pavan Lodhi; Anil; Vijay Prasad; Narayan Bahadur; Janmejay Singh; Sunil Giri; Roshan Kumar; Vishamer Singh; Suhail Mustafa; Nilesh; Pramod Gupta; Jitendar Ram; Nitesh Kumar Singh; Nijauadin; Kavi Kumar; Rohit Verma.

Rasuwa and Nuwakot are among the hardest-hit districts by the floods, which were likely triggered by an avalanche on a transboundary river between Nepal and China upstream of the Bhote Koshi river. By late Thursday afternoon, Nepal Police reported that a total of 644 people were missing, including 517 foreigners.

Meanwhile, the US State Department said it was aware of around 90 Americans who may have been affected by the floods and was closely monitoring the situation.

"We can confirm that three American citizens have been safely rescued in Nepal. We are not aware of any US citizen deaths at this time," the US State Department said.

Likewise, a large number of Chinese nationals are also missing in the aftermath of the massive floods in Nepal.

Nearly 100 Chinese nationals remain missing on the Nepalese side following Wednesday's mudslide, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said at a regular press briefing on Thursday.

According to Nepal Police, 127 Nepalis are also missing. Among the foreign nationals, 53 Ukrainians, 51 Malaysians, 35 Australians, 33 Britons and 25 Canadians have also been listed as missing.

The list also includes nine Singaporeans, eight Russians, eight Germans, six Latvians, six South Africans, five Japanese, five New Zealanders, four French nationals, three Belgians, three Spaniards, two Dutch nationals, two Kazakhs, two Portuguese, two Irish and two Italians.

One person each from the Philippines, Finland, Belarus, Sweden, Serbia, Switzerland, Israel, Lithuania, Bulgaria and other countries has also been listed as missing.

The latest figures come as search and rescue operations continue across several flood-hit districts in Nepal. 

Authorities have been working to locate missing people and recover those believed to have been swept away or buried under mud and debris.

The massive floods have caused widespread destruction along the Bhote Koshi and downstream river systems, damaging settlements, roads, bridges, hydropower projects and other critical infrastructure.

Meanwhile, police said that the bodies of 389 people swept away by the floods have been recovered, with the highest number of bodies found in Chitwan, at 137, followed by Nawalparasi East, with 87, and Dhading, with 33.

--IANS

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