Nepal Floods: India Says Tally of Missing Indians at 275

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - India has said that 275 of its nationals remain missing, ten days after flash floods ravaged areas along the Nepal-Tibet border, DW reported.

A total of 169 Indians have been rescued so far from the flood-affected areas in Nepal, India's foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday evening. 

Jaiswal said that in the latest rescue three Indians, including a five-year-old, were pulled to safety from Trishuli Bazaar in Nepal.

"Our Embassy in Nepal is assisting in their return to India by air," he said on X.

The spokesperson told a press conference in New Delhi that 1,907 Indian nationals have safely crossed over to Nepal from China.

No Indian travelers are now stranded in the Tibet Autonomous Region, Jaiswal announced, citing official Chinese sources.

Nepal's official death toll from the deluge now stands at 1,294, with 5,053 still missing. 

A frantic rescue effort has gone on for days to search for survivors, especially at mud-filled hydropower tunnels, where hundreds of workers are believed to be trapped.

On Saturday, New Delhi's envoy to Kathmandu said that an Indian tunnel rescue team, working with Nepal's defense forces at the Chilime hydropower plant in Rasuwa, had stepped up operations.

"The Indian tunnel rescue team working alongside with Nepali Army dug deeper into Chilime tunnel yesterday draining out water. A temporary track is also being made to allow more heavy equipment to reach tunnel," Indian Ambassador Naveen Srivastava said.

He added that doctors accompanying the Indian rescuers had also held a health camp for the local community. 

India has also supplied nearly 95 tonnes of relief material to Nepal since the floods hit the country on August 26, Jaiswal said on Friday.