KATHMANDU: The United Nations warned on Thursday of the immense challenge of reaching Nepal flood survivors, with destroyed roads forcing aid workers to consider using cargo drones and porters to reach isolated Himalayan communities.
Nepal’s disaster authority reported on Thursday that 1,259 bodies had been recovered, with 5,083 people missing.
In China, state media reported 21 dead and 541 missing, bringing the overall toll to 1,280 dead and 5,624 missing. More than 800 foreigners from at least 34 countries are among the missing, including about 75 Americans.
“It is just incredible — the magnitude of the disaster, the magnitude of the destruction,” UN Resident Coordinator Lila Pieters Yahia told reporters in Kathmandu, warning that access to communities near the epicentre has been “very, very, very difficult”.
The floods tore through mountain districts, destroying roads, bridges and hydropower dams. Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal, in a briefing to diplomats in Kathmandu, called it a “Himalayan tsunami”, stating that the reality on the ground was far more severe than images could convey.
Foreign ministry spokesman Lok Bahadur Poudel Chhetri said Nepal needs specialised international assistance, including heavy-lift drones, temporary bridges, body bags and DNA testing kits.
Pieters Yahia said the UN is discussing with the government how to deploy helicopters and cargo drones. The agency may also turn to Nepal’s porters, accustomed to carrying heavy loads across rugged mountain terrain, to deliver aid as quickly as possible amid inevitable relief gaps.
Meanwhile, in Islamabad, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday visited the Embassy of Nepal to sign the condolence book opened for those who lost their lives in the disaster.
PM Shehbaz was received by Rita Dhital, Nepal’s ambassador to Pakistan.
In his message, PM Shehbaz conveyed Pakistan’s deepest sympathies to the government and people of Nepal, reaffirming solidarity following an earlier telephone call with Nepalese Prime Minister Balendra Shah.
He announced that Pakistan will dispatch emergency relief assistance to Nepal later this week to support ongoing rescue operations, underscoring the long-standing fraternal ties between both nations. –Agencies
