The authorities of Nepal have updated this Thursday to 644 the number of tourists who continue to be missing after the floods on Wednesday caused by the sudden rise of the Bhotekoshi River, in the Rasuwa district, near the border with China, a disaster that leaves at least 270 dead.
The Nepal Tourism Board has revised the count of travelers unaccounted for, among whom are 127 Nepalese citizens, while the largest group corresponds to 178 people of Indian nationality.
Among the missing are also 65 Americans, 53 Ukrainians, 51 Malaysians, 35 Australians, 33 British, and 25 Canadians, as well as eight Germans and eight Russians, coming from a total of 33 different countries. However, the actual number is higher, as the official list does not include Chinese citizens, a neighboring country of Nepal, whose authorities have reported that around a hundred of their nationals are unaccounted for.
The count released by Nepal includes three missing of Spanish nationality, although the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain raises the number to four Spaniards unaccounted for in these devastating floods.
Foreign tourists rescued in the affected area
The Nepalese Tourism office has also communicated that 27 foreign tourists have been successfully brought to safety in the area hit by the flood. Among them are ten Indian citizens, as well as two Americans, two Italians, and four South Koreans, along with another eight people whose nationality has not been specified.
"The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation of the Government of Nepal, the Nepal Tourism Board, the Tourist Police, and stakeholders in the tourism sector are working to verify the whereabouts and safety situation of the tourists and travelers who were in the affected areas or who were passing through them," the statement has indicated.
At least 270 people have lost their lives as a result of these floods in Nepal, an episode that, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), would have originated from "the collapse of a glacier" upstream. To these figures are added at least three dead and nearly 560 missing, among them 260 foreigners, in Chinese territory.