Nepal launches a race against time and urges the country to locate the missing

The President of Nepal, Ram Chandra Paudel, made an urgent appeal this Wednesday to the security forces, the Government, and civil society to pour all available resources into rescue efforts following the flood that struck the north of the country.

"In this moment of crisis, I call upon the Government, political parties, social organizations, all agencies, including security forces, and the general public to intensify rescue and relief efforts," the president wrote on X.

Search teams are trying to locate hundreds of people in the area after the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) reported at least 384 missing travelers, including 93 Nepalis and 291 foreigners, among them citizens from India, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, South Africa, the United States, Australia, and the Netherlands.

The Government of Nepal declared the affected areas in the Rasuwa district, in the north of the country near the border with Tibet (China), a disaster zone for three months, where the flood has left at least 16 dead and hundreds missing.

According to Nepalese Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal, initial indications suggest that an earthquake in the area caused a landslide that temporarily blocked the river's flow in Tibet, which would have triggered the surge.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) recorded a magnitude 4.4 earthquake at dawn in the Tibetan zone near the Nepalese border, at a depth of 10 kilometers and with an epicenter about 77 kilometers north-northwest of the Nepalese town of Kodari.