Nepal agrees to foreign help for flood rescue

The Nepal government has reversed its earlier decision to not seek help from international search-and-rescue teams in the Bhotekoshi flash flood-hit areas, following intense diplomatic pressure from countries whose nationals are among people still missing in the disaster.

On Wednesday, the government said Nepali rescuers were capable of handling the search-and-rescue operations, and that it would not allow rescuers from other countries. The decision couldn’t hold even a day, as the administration decided to seek limited foreign expertise for tunnel rescues, DNA testing and forensic examinations.

“We received massive pressure from the international community to allow at least search-and-rescue teams and some experts because their citizens have also gone missing in the floods,” a senior government official told the Post. “We are allowing a limited number of experts in certain areas.”

The massive flash flood devastated settlements along the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers, with over 550 people dead as of Friday and 977, including 517 foreigners from 31 countries, still reported missing. According to the Nepal Tourism Board’s latest records, Indian nationals account for the highest number of missing, at 178, followed by 65 Americans, 53 Ukrainians, 35 Australians and 33 people from the United Kingdom, among others.

Based on the assessment made by the National Disaster Management Centre, the government, through an inter-ministerial coordination committee, has given a green signal to India, China, Australia and South Korea for sending their experts and teams of technicians experienced in tunnel rescues, and DNA as well as forensic examinations.

Even as several other countries, while announcing relief aid to Nepal, also expressed their desire to send their teams of experts, the government has not entertained their requests. Officials from the embassies of at least two countries in Kathmandu, whose nationals are missing in the dozens, said they had been asking the government to allow their teams to assist in the search but had received no positive response.

“Three days have passed with no concrete progress in tracing our people. We are really concerned about them,” said an official from one of the embassies. “But our requests for support have not been entertained.”

Some countries have also been making public offers to assist Nepal with search-and-rescue operations. India, for instance, has offered to send a tunnel rescue team, a medical team and teams from its National Disaster Response Force, said Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, on Friday.

The same day, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar also spoke to his Nepali counterpart Shisir Khanal about the disaster. “I spoke in the morning to the Nepal Foreign Minister. We have given them a range of support offers. They are evaluating them,” Jaishankar wrote on X.

He stated that while dispatching the fourth tranche of relief materials to Nepal, an 11-member team of doctors, paramedics and rescue team for tunnel rescue operations was also on board.

South Korea has also publicly offered additional assistance. On Thursday, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun spoke with Foreign Minister Khanal and expressed concern over the safety of South Korean nationals in Nepal, including nine who remain out of contact.

Cho requested for the Nepali government’s cooperation to ensure that a Prompt Response Team, dispatched to the disaster site, could carry out search-and-rescue operations smoothly.

“I requested the Nepalese government’s fullest cooperation to ensure that our Prompt Response Team, dispatched today, can seamlessly carry out search-and-rescue operations,” Cho said in a post on X. “I added that we are actively preparing the swift dispatch of the Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT).”

The Nepali authorities say they will receive foreign support only in the areas of need. “We have identified the three areas for the support and are seeking international assistance accordingly,” Khanal told the Post.

The expert teams from the four countries will be allowed to rescue people trapped inside hydropower tunnels in Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts. Fourteen hydropower projects—eight in Rasuwa and six in Nuwakot—have been affected by Wednesday’s flood.

According to the Independent Power Producers’ Association, Nepal, 76 employees of Andritz Hydro at the under-construction 216 MW Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project remain out of contact. At the Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Project, 51 people working at the site are out of contact, while eight employees at the powerhouse of the Mailung Khola Hydropower Project are also unaccounted for.

Similarly, authorities have yet to establish contact with 60 people—25 staff members and 35 workers—who were trapped inside a tunnel at the Langtang Khola Hydropower Project on Wednesday. As per reports, 45 technicians, staff members and consultants working at the Trishuli-3B Hydropower Project are also out of contact. Even as the Nepali Army has rescued several workers at the Trishuli-3A project, 35 still remain inside the tunnel.

Since Nepal’s laboratories have limited capacity for DNA testing, separate expert teams from those countries will be supporting with identifying dead bodies.

“We need to conduct DNA tests on a large number of samples. Foreign experts will assist us in identifying the bodies promptly so that we can hand them over to their relatives on time,” said Khanal.

Anil Giri is a Chief Sub Editor covering diplomacy, international relations and national politics for The Kathmandu Post. Giri has been working as a journalist for more than two decades, contributing to numerous national and international media outlets.