About 43 Latvian citizens were in Nepal when disaster struck

Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs has said on "X" that about 43 Latvian citizens were present in Nepal at the time of a devastating natural disaster. He added that there is still hope some missing people will be found alive.

According to Kulbergs, a group of people reportedly managed to cross into China shortly before a massive landslide struck. There is currently no communication with that area, so precise details about the group remain unavailable. About a 45-minute drive from the border, in a small mountain town, a group of foreign nationals may be located. Latvia has asked Chinese authorities to identify these people as quickly as possible.

Region remains in chaos

The prime minister described the disaster zone as chaotic, with communications down. Mudslides have swept away both property and people as far as 100–200 kilometers from the affected area. Over the past two days, 260 people have been rescued.

On Saturday evening, Foreign Minister Baiba Braže spoke with her Nepalese counterpart to discuss rescue efforts and the latest information on Latvian citizens. Foreign Ministry officials are also in contact with Chinese authorities.

A list compiled by the Foreign Ministry's Consular Department, based on information from various sources including relatives, includes 39 Latvian tourists in Nepal, 34 of whom belong to two tour groups. Nepal's Department of Tourism has separately published a list of 29 Latvian citizens considered missing.

Most of the Latvian nationals in Nepal are believed to have traveled with a trip organized by the travel company "Yantra." The company is not a member of the Latvian Association of Travel Agents and does not hold a tour operator or travel agent license. Kulbergs noted that the Consumer Rights Protection Centre is reviewing whether the company was authorized to organize such group trips, adding that relatives of the travelers had not filed complaints about the company and that people had traveled with it before.

On August 26, a glacier collapse triggered water and mudflows causing widespread destruction across the Himalayan region in Nepal and Chinese-occupied Tibet. By Sunday morning, the disaster had killed at least 750 people, with the number of missing exceeding 3,000, according to Reuters.