Nepal flood survivors crowd into shelter as over 5,600 remain missing
Hundreds of people made homeless by a devastating flash flood in Nepal's Rasuwa district have taken refuge in a local school, while more than 5,600 people remain missing. Rescuers continue searching for survivors trapped in mud-filled tunnels.
About 30 kilometres from the Nepal-China border, a school in a remote Himalayan district has become a temporary shelter for roughly 200 people left homeless by last week's catastrophic flash flood, which buried much of their village under mud.
Aid workers reaching Rasuwa district, near the disaster's epicentre, must travel up to nine hours along a winding dirt road. Madhav Neupane, an employee of Human Development and Community Services, said his team is bringing rice, lentils and oil because food is scarce in the area. With no electricity available, they are also delivering solar power banks and tents for those without shelter.
Waiting for word on loved ones
Many of those now packed into the school are still awaiting news of missing family members. Flood survivor Ranjina Tamang said she has lost 11 relatives, unsure whether some are missing or dead.
Search efforts continue elsewhere in the region. On Saturday, a Chinese national was pulled alive from a mud-filled hydropower tunnel, while two Nepalese workers were rescued from another mud-choked tunnel on Friday. Authorities say more than 5,600 people remain unaccounted for.
For those who escaped the disaster, conditions remain difficult in the overcrowded camps that have formed in the flood's aftermath.
