New Delhi: More than 400 Indian nationals stranded on the Chinese side of the Nepal-China border are safe, even as efforts continue to establish contact with hundreds of others affected by the devastating floods, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday.
As many as 320 Indian nationals are still untraceable.
The Indian embassy in Beijing has been communicating with several Indians in the affected area through local authorities, team leaders and travel agents, the MEA said. Families have also been reaching out through helpline numbers established by the embassy.
“In fact, there are around 400 Indian nationals. Our embassy is 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,” the spokesperson said, as reported by News18.
The situation remains fluid and that the numbers could change as authorities receive fresh information, Jaiswal said.
“We are in a dynamic situation, so figures keep going up and down,” he said.
Of the Indians affected by the crisis, 96 have already made their way to Nepal, while 21 others who reached Kathmandu have now arrived in Delhi. The group of 21, all from Tamil Nadu, landed in the national capital on an IndiGo flight.
Sixty-three Indian nationals employed at Trishul-I had been rescued, adding to ongoing efforts to bring stranded Indians to safety, the ministry said.
The government is working with Chinese authorities to determine how they can be evacuated.
“Our embassy is in touch with local authorities in China, and they are working out how these people who are there can be evacuated,” the MEA spokesperson said.
The latest update comes amid an extensive Indian effort to assist its citizens and provide relief to flood-hit Nepal, where the disaster has left more than 500 dead and thousands missing.
India is also preparing to send a third relief flight to Nepal, with the aircraft expected to depart on Friday evening.
The first Indian relief aircraft left on August 26, carrying 10 tonnes of humanitarian supplies, including temporary shelters, blankets, hygiene kits, solar lamps and medicines.
A second flight departed on August 27, carrying another 37.5 tonnes of relief material. Its cargo included tents, blankets, hygiene kits, solar lamps, dewatering pumps, kitchen sets, generators, medicines and food items.
The third aircraft is expected to carry around 12-13 tonnes of supplies, including portable generators, dignity kits, food, water purification tablets and medicines requested or made available for Nepal’s relief operations.
With the third consignment, India’s total relief assistance sent to Nepal will reach around 60 tonnes.
The flash flood occurred on Wednesday after an ice-rock avalanche near the Lhende River along the Nepal-Tibet border sent a massive surge of water, sediment and boulders into the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river systems.
The disaster has killed at least 538 people in Nepal and five in China, while hundreds remain missing.
The Rasuwa and Dhading districts bore the brunt of the disaster before floodwaters moved further downstream into Nuwakot, Chitawan, Gorkha, Tanahu and Nawalparasi East.
The scale of the destruction has made it difficult for rescue teams to reach several affected areas, with roads and bridges washed away and communication and power links disrupted.
