Nepal prime minister calls Bhote Koshi flood one of the region’s largest disasters

Rescuers in Nepal have spent days and nights digging through rivers and hydropower tunnels as the search continued for survivors, bodies and missing people on the seventh day after the Bhote Koshi River flood.

Prime Minister Balendra Shah said the government remained engaged in search and rescue, medical treatment, relief distribution and the safe management of people affected by the disaster. He praised security personnel, civil servants, media workers, officials, volunteers and residents who have worked in dangerous conditions.

Relief supplies collected in Kathmandu and elsewhere in Nepal are being sent to affected communities. International assistance has also arrived from India, China, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Japan, Switzerland and Australia.

Security personnel have transported supplies by air and road through four collection centres in Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading. Authorities have distributed relief through 27 centres in Rasuwa and Nuwakot, reaching 3,696 people. Provincial and local governments are coordinating shelter and relief with the federal government, while disaster authorities track the collection and distribution of aid.

The government is also raising financial assistance through the Prime Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund and the Prime Minister’s Fund. The disaster has renewed concern over growing risks in Nepal’s Himalayan region as climate change intensifies.