The Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) indicated in its latest report that one of the three Spanish citizens who were on the list of missing persons following the devastating floods that have ravaged the north of the country has been located, without providing further details at this time.
In this report, the official body includes the Spanish national in the rescued section, while keeping two other citizens on the list of unknown whereabouts, pending confirmation of the identity of those affected and the circumstances of the discovery.
Hours earlier, the Nepalese Government (through the Communications and Information Technology Ministry) had published a list with the identities of more than 600 missing foreign tourists, among whom were initially two women and one man of Spanish nationality within a list of citizens from 35 countries.
For its part, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which the previous day had reported four missing persons, lowered the official figure to three people this Friday before this first location was confirmed.
China and Nepal temporarily suspended rescue operations after Wednesday’s massive flood due to the overflow of a lake formed as a result of the disaster. Debris and rocks created a blockage near the confluence of the Chochen and Purepu Tsangpo rivers, about 10 kilometers upstream from the Gyirong port. For more than 24 hours, the riverbed has been blocked, causing a rise in water level of more than two million cubic meters. The accumulated pressure has already caused the natural dam to give way, posing a threat to downstream populations and rescuers.
Narendra Pariyar, chief official of the Rasuwa district, stated that the Nepal Army informed him of the event. “As soon as I received the information, I notified the relevant agencies, including the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, and the necessary coordination is underway,” he told the Nepalese newspaper Kantipur. Pariyar confirmed that the water level “is rising” in the Bhotekoshi, the main tributary of the upper Trishuli River.
The Chinese media CCTV reported that rescue teams were ordered to move one kilometer away from the riverbanks. However, China resumed rescue operations this Friday, deploying more than 2,000 personnel in the Tibetan county of Gyirong after reaching the core of the affected area by land.
The Chinese Ministry of Water Resources warned since Thursday that the artificial lake presented a “high risk of rupture”, anticipating a new wave of water downstream after estimates of about three million cubic meters accumulated if the dam did not give way before Saturday. Nepal joined the warning and the country’s disaster management authority indicated that the water level continues to rise in the lake formed by debris.
A Chinese rescue team captured from the air the formation of this barrier lake, according to the state broadcaster CGTN. The images show a mass of turbid water accumulating in a basin with no visible outlet, submerging bushes and trees and pressing against a barrier of debris and stones.
Wednesday’s flood, caused by the collapse of a glacier, now leaves a combined toll of at least 584 dead (579 bodies recovered in Nepal and 5 on the Tibetan side of China) and nearly 2,500 people missing (1,924 reported by Nepal and 558 by China, including 260 foreigners).
In Nepal, among the 1,924 missing are 933 hydroelectric plant employees, more than a hundred security and customs personnel, and 622 tourists (473 foreigners and 149 Nepalese residing abroad). To mitigate infrastructure destruction, Nepal has formally requested India and China to urgently deliver and install 42 portable bridges to restore land communication.
According to Red Cross data, about 93,000 people may have been affected by the disaster, and the organization has launched an emergency appeal for 31 million dollars to fund humanitarian aid in the region.
Security forces and the Nepal Tourist Police have so far managed to evacuate 129 foreign visitors from the affected areas, according to data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA). In total, Nepalese emergency teams have rescued 4,451 people across the territory, including the Army’s rescue of 191 survivors trapped inside a hydroelectric tunnel.
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