India Working With Nepal Army To Find Missing Tourists After Floods: Envoy

The Indian embassy in Nepal is making full efforts to locate and rescue missing countrymen in the aftermath of devastating flash floods that hit the country earlier this week.

Naveen Srivastava, India's envoy to Nepal, told NDTV on Friday that the Indian embassy was “working with Nepal's Army and several other agencies” to locate missing tourists.

“We are communicating with the Nepalese army and sharing whatever information we have about missing Indians,” Srivastava said

Talking about the 21 pilgrims from Tamil Nadu who had been rescued on Thursday, he said, “They were brought to Kathmandu yesterday. Our first hope is that the group reaches Delhi first, and then they can go home from there.”

He added that 63 Indians working on the Trishuli 1 power project had been rescued on Thursday.

The Indian envoy said that he had read media reports of another lake burst in Nepal, but declined to comment further on the matter. “I don't have much information on the incident,” he stated.

Nepal said that a barrier lake upstream of the Gyirong border port had broken on Friday, warning of a renewed risk of flooding. The barrier lake, located on the Tibet side of the border, has broken its banks.

"All security personnel, rescue workers, and the general public deployed in rescue and relief operations are requested to remain alert and immediately move to a safe location/report the incident," Nepal police said in a post.

Both Nepal and China had warned earlier of fresh risks of flooding after a lake developed across their border due to the debris from the flash flood. China has also paused rescue operations in Tibet, citing a high risk of more floods.

A glacial collapse on Wednesday led to deadly flash floods in Nepal. At least 472 people have been killed in the disaster. Around 1,400 people, including hundreds of foreigners, still remain missing.