Hundreds of tourists are missing after deadly flash floods in Nepal, including 17 Malaysians, 142 Indians and dozens of Ukrainians
KATHMANDU: Hundreds of tourists have gone missing in Nepal after devastating flash floods on Wednesday killed at least 160 people.
Official figures suggested at least 341 foreigners were among the missing.
Hikers and climbers from around the world flock to the Himalayan nation to test themselves on some of the world’s highest peaks, Mount Everest among them.
Here is the latest on the missing:
India
According to the Nepal Tourism Board, 142 nationals from neighbouring India were missing.
They were in the country with three travel agencies: Samrat Tours & Travels, Leaf Holiday and Himalayan Glacier.
Ukraine
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said Nepal’s Tourist Police had informed them that they believed 53 Ukrainian nationals to be missing.
They included a group of 46 Ukrainian tourists with whom the authorities in Nepal had lost contact, the ministry added.
Malaysia
Seventeen Malaysians travelling with Fishtail Tours & Travels were missing in the floods, the board said.
Malaysia’s foreign ministry said its embassy in Kathmandu had received reports from travel agencies suggesting they had lost contact with 11 Malaysian nationals believed to be in the Rasuwa district.
- United Kingdom
Twelve UK citizens with the Alpine Eco Trek agency were unaccounted for, the tourism board said.
South Korea
South Korean officials confirmed eight hydropower workers were out of contact in the Rasuwa district following the floods.
South Africa
Four South Africans travelling with the same Alpine Eco Trek agency as the missing British citizens were missing, according to the tourism board.
United States
Three US citizens, also with Fishtail Tours & Travels, were unaccounted for, the board said.
Portugal
Portugal’s foreign ministry said a woman and a man had gone missing in the floods.
“We continue to monitor the situation minute by minute,” a ministry spokesperson told AFP.
Australia
One Australian with Kathmandu Holiday Tours & Travel was missing, according to the board.
Netherlands
A Dutch citizen travelling with the same company as the missing Australian was also unaccounted for, the board added.
Italy
The Italian foreign ministry said two of its nationals and their guide were stranded upstream from a landslide but were receiving help.
The ministry is aware of 90 Italian citizens currently in Nepal and Tibet, but does not know if any might have been affected.
Nationalities unconfirmed
Several of the tour groups also announced missing foreigners whose nationalities had not been confirmed.
They included 77 with Trekkers Society, 26 with Kailash Journey and eight with Richa Tours & Travels.
Nepal
The Nepali tourism board also announced that, in addition to the unaccounted-for foreigners, a total of 93 Nepalis were missing.
