Search and rescue operation continues, 4,200 still missing
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the rescue operation with international assistance has been intensified
Kathmandu. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that search, rescue and relief operations have been intensified in the disaster-hit areas.
At a regular press briefing on Thursday, Ministry’
s Spokesperson Lok Bahadur Poudel Chhetri said that search and rescue operations were going on as a large number of people are still missing.
According to him, 1,252 bodies have been recovered from the affected areas so far while around 4,200 people are still missing.
The number of people rescued has reached 11,993. More than 300 of the rescued are foreign nationals, according to the ministry. About 590 foreign nationals from 34 countries are still missing, said spokesperson Chhetri.
The ministry said that the details would be updated as per the need as search and rescue and data verification works are underway. The updated details will be published on the Ministry’s website and through the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) and Nepal Tourism Board. Nepal Army, security agencies and tunnel rescue teams from India, China and Republic of Korea are carrying out joint search and rescue operations in the affected areas. More than 9,300 Nepal Army has been deployed from Timure of Rasuwa to Nuwakot, Dhading, Chitwan and Nawalparasi east and west, according to the ministry. The Indian tunnel rescue team is coordinating with the Nepali rescue team in Chilime and Langtang areas. The rescue operation is underway with the necessary equipment and an excavator is being sent to Chilime for further assistance.
Two employees of a hydropower project and 25 Nepal Army personnel, including drilling equipment, have dug another small hole towards the upper part of the tunnel in the Langtang area. Further rescue operations are underway, the ministry said.
A 93-member rescue team has been deployed in Upper Trishuli-3 ‘A’. The Chinese tunnel rescue team is working with the Nepali rescue team. The team has been strengthened with additional manpower and equipment.
A total of 67 Nepal Army and three technical experts of the hydropower project have been mobilized along with excavators in Upper Trishuli-3 ‘B’. A CSSR team has also been deployed for search and rescue of the collapsed structure.
The Nepal Army, in coordination with the employees of the Hydropower Project, entered the tunnel and started the search operation in the Upper Trishuli area of Haku area.
Reconnaissance has been conducted to assess the possibility of mobilizing excavators in Rasuwagadhi area.
Similarly, the Korean tunnel rescue team along with the Nepali team is continuing the tunnel opening work at Upper Trishuli-1. Forensic experts from India, China, Singapore and Republic of Korea are working with the Nepali team to identify the deceased. According to the ministry, 19 members from India, five members from China and 19 members of the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team from Singapore are working in Nepal. They have intensified the work of DNA collection, analysis and reporting.
The remaining members of the Singapore DVI team are arriving here on Thursday and Friday with drones and necessary equipment.
Relief materials are being mobilized in the disaster-affected areas, the ministry said. Efforts are also being made to mobilize additional relief and rescue materials through international partners.
Nepal has asked for international assistance for high-capacity drones, lidar, bailey bridges, epidemic prevention kits, DNA testing kits, dead body bags, flood rescue trucks, mobile air traffic control system, ground penetrating radar, high-precision laser meters, broadband seismometers, high-capacity sludge pumps and laboratory freezers.
The Ministry has expressed gratitude to India, China, UK, Japan, USA, UAE, Qatar, Singapore, Republic of Korea, Australia, Germany, Latvia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Norway, Israel, Canada, Sri Lanka, Thailand and New Zealand, as well as international partners including the European Union, Asian Development Bank, World Bank and the United Nations.
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