320 Indian nationals remain out of contact after Nepal floods, 400 on Chinese side safe: MEA

New Delhi:The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday that 320 Indian nationals remained out of contact following the deadly floods in Nepal, while 400 Indian nationals on the Chinese side were safe.

Addressing a bi-weekly press briefing in New Delhi on Friday, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that 84 Indian nationals, including 63 Indian nationals who were working at the Trishuli-1 hydropower project, have been rescued so far. He further stated that 96 Indian nationals who were stranded on the Chinese side have safely crossed into Nepal by land.

On the situation of Indian nationals in Nepal, Jaiswal said, “First good news, 21 Indian nationals who had yesterday arrived in Kathmandu from the area that was affected by this flood, they have today landed in Delhi. They have just landed. These 21 Indian nationals, are from Tamil Nadu and they arrived by Indigo flight which just landed in Delhi. Yesterday our Ambassador had met them in Kathmandu and inquired about their well-being. In addition to these 21 Indian nationals, yesterday I had informed you, we had given you an update about 63 Indian nationals who are working at Trishuli-1 hydropower project, they were also rescued yesterday.”

“In addition to these 21 and 63, we have learnt that 96 Indian nationals who were stranded on the Chinese side have safely crossed into Nepal by land and efforts are underway to have them evacuated. We shall be sharing with you details about them as and when we have more information about the particulars etc,” he added.

Jaiswal stated that around 100 persons of Indian-origin who hold other nationalities and may have travelled for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra remained out of contact.

“As far as the number of people who we are not able to contact or who are missing, the figure at this point in time is 320. But, please do keep in mind that we are in a dynamic situation, so figures keep going up and down. Also, we have to reconcile several lists that we are dealing with. There are also around 100 persons of Indian-origin who remain uncontactable. So, these are people of Indian origin who may have gone for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, but they hold other nationalities. Our MEA control room here is working round the clock as is the case with the control rooms in our Embassy in Kathmandu as also our Embassy in Beijing.”

The MEA spokesperson said that 400 Indian nationals who were on the Chinese side were safe and able to contact their families. He said that Indian Embassy in China has been working with local authorities to ensure evacuation of 400 people stranded on the Chinese side.

“On the Chinese side, we have 400 Indian nationals, They are safe. They have been in touch with their family because phones, etc, I’m told is working on that side. Our embassy has been in touch with several of them, in fact, with their team leaders and their travel agent. Many of their family members also contacted us through the helpline numbers that our embassy is running right now in Beijing…As I said earlier that it’s a dynamic situation so we will give you updated figure later but at this point in time we are talking about around 400 people.

“Our Embassy is in touch with local authorities in China and they are working out as to how these people who are there they can be evacuated but just to tell you that all these 400 people or plus people are safe,” he added.

The floods, believed to have been triggered by an avalanche on a transboundary river between Nepal and China upstream of the Bhote Koshi River, have left a trail of destruction along the riverbanks downstream, sweeping away several human settlements, roads, hydropower projects and transmission infrastructure, among other facilities.

The death toll from the devastating floods in Nepal’s Bhotekoshi region has risen to 538 while hundreds remain missing, according to the latest update released by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) on Friday.

IANS