A large share of those missing after massive floods and landslides in Nepal are foreign nationals, authorities said. The affected area draws large numbers of Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims and also serves as a gateway to world-renowned trekking routes, which analysts said magnified the toll among visitors from abroad.
Hundreds of people are missing after floods struck the border region with China, including Nepal's northern district of Rasuwa, Reuters and the Associated Press reported on the 27th. Nepali authorities said many foreign tourists have lost contact. Those unaccounted for include nationals of India, the United States, Australia, Britain and Canada.
Many of the missing Indians were pilgrims heading to Mount Kailash in Tibet, according to authorities. Nepal's tourism authorities said 133 Indians had lost contact, and the group was believed to have been on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, a site held sacred in Hinduism.
The list of missing also includes 47 Americans, 34 Australians, 33 Britons and 24 Canadians. Nine South Koreans are also out of contact. They were not tourists but workers at a hydropower construction site in Rasuwa, employed by Korea South-East Power and Doosan Enerbility. Separately, 10 South Koreans who had been stranded were reported to have evacuated to safety.
The heavy toll among foreigners stems from the region's geography. Rasuwa, where the flooding occurred, lies in the Himalayan mountains and is both a main route for Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims and a destination for trekking tourists.
Villages along the Trishuli and Lhende rivers, such as Syabrubesi and Timure, are waypoints for pilgrims traveling toward Tibet. They are also the gateway to the world-famous Langtang Valley and the Tamang Heritage Trail.
The timing of the floods, which coincided with Janai Purnima, a traditional Nepali festival, is also cited as a factor. Pilgrims and trekkers had flocked to the area around Gosaikunda Lake in Rasuwa during the holiday, and local tourism authorities said 62 Nepalis who had visited the lake were also missing.
As a result, the disaster is emerging not as one affecting local residents alone but as a large-scale catastrophe that swept up tourists and workers from multiple countries who had come to the Himalayan mountains for religious pilgrimage and trekking. Rescue and identification efforts remain hampered by the mountainous terrain and damaged communications infrastructure, and the toll could rise further.
