Kathmandu
The death toll from the devastating flood in Nepal’s Bhote Koshi River has reached 177, while more than 800 people remain out of contact, Nepali authorities said on Thursday. Nepal Police said in a notice that the bodies of 177 people had been recovered as of 10 a.m. Thursday, as the death toll from the disaster continued to rise.
The massive flood, originating in the Tibetan region of China, swept through the transboundary Bhote Koshi River, leaving a trail of destruction in Nepal. The bodies were recovered from riverbanks in several downstream districts along the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river systems, including Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Chitwan, Gorkha, Tanahun, Nawalparasi (East) and Nawalparasi West. Most of the bodies were recovered in Chitwan, in Nepal’s southern plains. The Nepali government said rescue efforts continued from early Thursday morning, as more than 800 people remained out of contact after the flood swept through human settlements, hydropower projects, customs offices and electricity infrastructure, among other areas.
In a social media post, Nepali Prime Minister Balendra Shah said that the Nepali Army carried out a rescue operation early Thursday, safely evacuating 95 Nepali citizens and 21 Indian nationals from Timure, one of the areas worst affected by the flood. According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), as many as 826 people remained out of contact as of 11 a.m. Thursday. Of them, 579 were tourists, although the authority did not clarify whether they were foreign tourists, domestic tourists or both. Likewise, 48 Nepali Army personnel, 28 Nepal Police personnel, 13 Armed Police Force (APF) personnel, and 162 other people from Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts remained out of contact.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said Prime Minister Shah departed for flood-hit Bidur Municipality in Nuwakot district on Thursday morning to conduct an on-site inspection of the affected areas. During the visit, the Prime Minister and the Infrastructure Development Minister will assess the physical damage caused by the flood and hold discussions with local administration officials, security agencies and elected representatives on relief, rehabilitation and the resumption of disrupted infrastructure services. They are also expected to issue necessary instructions to ensure the rapid delivery of relief to all affected areas and accelerate the reconstruction of damaged infrastructure, the PMO said. –IANS scor/sd/