Indian border regions on high alert as 288 nationals missing after deadly Nepal flood
NEW DELHI: Indian officials are on high alert on Thursday after catastrophic flash floods in neighboring Nepal killed hundreds of people, as they brace for possible impacts in the border regions.
A flash flood caused by a collapsing glacier in the Himalayan region between Nepal and Tibet unleashed deadly waves across Nepal’s mountainous Rasuwa district near the Chinese border, leaving more than 1,300 people missing, including hundreds of foreign tourists.
At least 288 Indian nationals “remain uncontactable” as of Thursday afternoon, according to India’s Ministry of External Affairs. They make up the largest group of foreign tourists missing in Nepal, figures from the Nepal Tourism Board showed.
The northern Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which border Nepal, were placed on high alert following the disaster, with officials “maintaining close monitoring of the situation” as “the impact of flood is likely to travel downstream in the Gandak river, in India,” the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.
