Nepal-Tibet flash flood: helicopter rescue operations suspended as lake overflows; death toll rises to 469
Operations in Rasuwa in Nepal suspended amid fears of further destruction; 1,500 people still missing amid race to find survivors • Flood risk forces halt to rescues in Tibet, as Nepal death toll rises to 469 • Visual guide: how the deadly flooding unfolded • Tell us: have you been affected by the flash floods? More now on the Nepali army’s rescue operation to save about 100 people trapped in a tunnel at a hydropower project swamped by Wednesday’s flooding . “Two helicopters have been dispatched but it is challenging because it is tough to even locate the entry points of the tunnel,” army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet told AFP. Relief efforts are also under way to provide the rescued people what they need. The army is still working to safely evacuate more than 100 people trapped in the same tunnel. Continue reading...
Nepal does not need foreign assistance for search-and-rescue operations following the devastating flash flood, its foreign ministry said on Friday, despite offers of help from several countries with nationals missing in the disaster. Nepal’s foreign ministry said that it was managing the rescue efforts. “The offer for help is natural. Our security agencies are doing the search and rescue operation. For now we don’t require such help,” Lok Bahadur Chhetri, spokesperson for the foreign ministry, said without providing further details.
South Korea’s foreign ministry said Nepal had indicated it was not yet planning to accept foreign rescue teams. A South Korean rapid response team is already in Kathmandu but has not been deployed, it added. It said: South Korea will keep negotiating with Nepal over the matter. Seoul has pledged $1 million in humanitarian assistance through international organisations, its foreign minister said on X. Nine South Koreans working in a hydropower plant we