Nepal floods: Jaishankar reviews rescue efforts, India to send Bailey bridges and more aid

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday held a meeting with officials of the Ministry of External Affairs MEA and the Embassies in Kathmandu and Beijing to discuss the relief and rescue efforts for Nepal in the wake of the deadly floodsDuring the meeting MEA officials informed about the relief supplies that will be sent to Nepal Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal and other officials were present during the meetingFollowing the meeting EAM Jaishankar said Discussed the relief and rescue efforts underway in Nepal today Our Embassies in Kathmandu and Beijing provided an updated picture in respect of the status and wellbeing of Indian nationals The concerned MEA Divisions apprised us of the further relief supplies to be sent to Nepal We give highest priority to this issueThe meeting comes as catastrophic flash floods in Nepals Bhote Koshi River have led to the death of 469 people while 977 people remain out of contactAddressing a press briefing on the Nepal disaster here on Thursday MEA spokesperson Jaiswal said that India will send Bailey bridges to assist Nepal in the rescue and relief efforts after the flash floods He said that India has sent 475 tonnes of relief material to Nepal through two aircraftTwo aircraft with humanitarian assistance have been sent to Kathmandu A C130J aircraft took off yesterday Wednesday at around 830 pm carrying 10 tonnes of relief material including temporary shelters blankets hygiene kits solar lamps medicines etc And then this morning a C17 aircraft departed with 375 tonnes of supplies comprising 285 tonnes of relief items such as tents blankets hygiene kits solar lamps dewatering pumps kitchen sets gensets etc eight tonnes of medicines and one tonne of food items he saidIn total across the two departures by air India has sent 475 tonnes of emergency supplies aimed at supporting Nepals ongoing rescue and relief operations Let me say that further assistance is also being considered We are also mobilising Bailey bridges to assist in rescue and relief efforts he addedThe floods believed to have been triggered by an avalanche on a transboundary river between Nepal and China upstream of the Bhote Koshi River have left a trail of destruction along the riverbanks downstream sweeping away several human settlements roads hydropower projects and transmission infrastructure among other facilitiesAccording to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority NDRRMA 469 bodies have been recovered from various districts with the highest number mdash 178 bodies mdash recovered in Chitwan district followed by 110 in Nawalparasi East Likewise 44 bodies were recovered in Gorkha 37 in Nuwakot 28 in Tanahun 27 in Nawalparasi West 23 in Dhading and 12 in Rasuwa the authority saidOf the 977 people out of contact 517 are foreign nationals The MEA said on Thursday night that as many as 290 Indians remain out of contact in the aftermath of the deadly floods in the Bhote Koshi River The United States said that approximately 90 Americans may have been affected by the floods in Nepal while China said that nearly 100 Chinese nationals remain missing on the Nepali sideAmong those out of contact 127 Nepalis residing abroad are also missing according to the authority The latest update also said that those out of contact include 28 Nepal Police personnel 45 Nepal Army personnel 13 Armed Police Force personnel 15 Customs Office staff and four Immigration Office staffAt least 73 people have been injured in the disaster including 43 in Rasuwa three in Dhading and 27 in Nuwakot the authority saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever