The True Post (Web News) — Nearly 2,000 people are missing after devastating flash floods struck the Himalayan border region between Nepal and Tibet, including 32 Canadian citizens and permanent residents.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand confirmed on Friday that 579 bodies had so far been recovered from areas affected by the floods, while 1,924 people remained missing.
According to Anita Anand, 517 foreign nationals are among those reported missing. However, no Canadian death has been confirmed so far.
She described the situation in Nepal as a devastating humanitarian crisis, saying the floods had caused extensive loss of life and property.
The Canadian government has also announced $5 million in emergency assistance to support relief efforts in Nepal.
Search for Missing People Continues
Meanwhile, rescue workers continued searching through debris and mud on Friday for people still missing in the affected areas of Nepal and Tibet.
The flash floods that struck on Wednesday destroyed several settlements and critical infrastructure in the border region, creating serious difficulties for rescue and relief operations.
According to Nepali authorities, 3,742 people have so far been safely evacuated from various affected areas.
However, the search for missing people remains extremely challenging because entire villages have been swept away by floodwaters and landslides.
Risk of Further Flooding
Authorities in Nepal and China have also warned of the possibility of further flooding.
Officials said a lake has formed in an upper area following Wednesday’s floods and has already begun overflowing.
People living in potentially affected areas have been instructed to move immediately to safer locations.
Efforts to Rescue People Trapped in a Tunnel
The Nepalese Army has also deployed rescue teams to the area of the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project near the Nepal-China border.
Reports indicate that a number of people became trapped inside a tunnel, prompting a specialized rescue operation on Friday.
Nepalese Army spokesperson Brigadier General Raja Ram Basnet said that following the floods and landslides, both the entrance and exit of the tunnel had been completely blocked by mud, making it extremely difficult to reach those inside.
According to him, the first priority of the rescue operation is to safely evacuate the people trapped inside the tunnel.
Officials said rescue workers have already evacuated around 350 people trapped in the tunnel, while efforts are continuing to move more than 100 additional people to safety.
Entire Villages Swept Away
Santosh Pandey, a representative of humanitarian organization Oxfam in Nepal, described the situation as extremely chaotic and serious.
He said entire villages and settlements had been swept away by floodwaters in several areas.
According to him, the destruction in some locations has been so extensive that there are no people left in some affected communities to help one another.
The floods have also destroyed a large number of government buildings, roads, bridges, hospitals and medical facilities, further complicating relief operations and the treatment of injured people.
Families Searching for Their Loved Ones
Meanwhile, relatives of missing people have been gathering outside hospitals and forensic centres in search of their loved ones.
At Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, affected families have been looking through photographs displayed outside the forensic identification unit in an effort to identify their missing relatives.
The photographs include bodies recovered from floodwaters and mud, including the bodies of children.
Forty-nine-year-old Nirmala Sapkota Koholi has been visiting different hospitals in search of her younger brother, Pradeep Kumar Sapkota.
Her brother was working as a driver for a group of tourists that included people from the United States and India.
According to the family, Pradeep Kumar Sapkota was speaking to his daughter by phone on Wednesday morning when they suddenly heard a loud noise and the call was disconnected.
There has been no contact with him since.
Nirmala Sapkota said she would go everywhere possible to find her brother and would continue searching for him until her last breath.
Rescue Operations Face Major Challenges
Rescue and relief operations are continuing in the border areas of Nepal and Tibet following the devastating floods.
However, severe weather, destroyed roads, debris and the difficulty of reaching remote areas have made it extremely challenging to provide assistance to thousands of affected people and locate those who remain missing.
With hundreds of confirmed deaths and thousands of people still unaccounted for, authorities and rescue teams are continuing efforts to locate survivors, recover victims and provide emergency assistance to communities devastated by the floods.
