Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has left for Rasuwa to inspect the damages caused by devastating floods in the Lhende Stream and the Bhotekoshi River along the Nepal-China border.
He is accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Deepak Khadka, and the Prime Minister’s Chief Advisor Bishnu Prasad Rimal.
Among others leaving for Rasuwa are Chief Secretary Eak Narayan Aryal, Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Chen Song, Chief of Army Staff Ashok Raj Sigdel, Inspector General of Nepal Police Deepak Thapa, Inspector General of the Armed Police Force Raju Aryal, and Chief of the National Investigation Department Hutraj Thapa.
In the meantime, the reports from Rasuwa stated that 57 people were entrapped in the floods and landslides from the Lhende Stream last night.
Among them, 30 were rescued by a Nepal Army helicopter. Eighteen people remain missing, including three police personnel: Lal Bahadur Shrestha, Munna Thakur, and Lokendra Bohora.
The District Administration Office, Rasuwa, confirmed that other missing individuals include Jipan Chaudhary, Santosh Dahit, Buddhiram Tharu, Laxmi Narayan Tharu, and Suresh Tharu from Bardiya, and Naresh BK from Baglung. Phurba Lama from Sindhupalchowk and two others: Govinda Moktan and Lokman Tamang whose addresses are yet to be confirmed. Among the missing are six Chinese nationals.
The Directorate of Public Relations of the Nepali Army stated that 294 army personnel from Dhading and additional troops from Rasuwa have been deployed in 17 locations to search for the missing.
Meanwhile, human body parts have been found in four separate locations along the Trishuli River that also experienced a severe flood last night.
Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Damodar Bhandari, reported that the flooding has caused significant damage to the under-construction dry port at Timure in Rasuwagadhi. Around 75% of the project, funded by the Government of China, had already been completed. The minister said the government will request China's assistance to restore the damaged facility.
Electric vehicles kept at the dry port are believed to have been washed away by the flood.
