The Government of Nepal has emphasized that China and India are already collaborating with the Nepalese authorities in the response tasks to the severe flood that swept through the Bhotekoshi river basin, on the border with China, last Wednesday. In addition, other countries such as Japan and Australia have begun to channel contributions following the disaster, which has claimed 675 lives so far, according to the most recent official toll.
"The level of devastation is very significant. We hope there will be international aid for recovery and reconstruction," stated the Nepalese Foreign Minister, Shishir Janal, at a press conference in Kathmandu. "We have limited capacity, so we have requested support from foreign governments" to provide refrigerated trucks, forensic equipment, and other specialized technical resources, he added.
The head of Nepalese diplomacy indicated that the Executive is even considering calling an international conference with the aim of raising funds, while stressing that it is still premature to accurately determine the total magnitude of the disaster.
The minister held a telephone conversation this Saturday with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in which they discussed the development of search operations, as well as the distribution of the aid sent, according to a detailed statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an official communiqué.
The country needs "several billion dollars" to recover, noted the Finance Minister, Swarnim Wagle, in statements to Bloomberg, referring to the enormous economic bill that the tragedy will leave.
So far, the Government has launched a Disaster Relief Fund that has managed to gather more than 5,000 million Nepalese rupees, equivalent to about 28.2 million euros, from both internal and foreign donations.
According to the latest update from the National Authority for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (NDRRMA) of Nepal, a total of 675 people have lost their lives and 2,498 are still missing after the flood. Meanwhile, Chinese authorities have confirmed seven deceased and 554 missing in the Tibet region, which provisionally raises the death toll to 682 and places the number of missing above 3,000 people.