Nepal needs help in technical areas, not search and rescue, foreign minister says

KATHMANDU: Nepal needs foreign help in specialised and technical areas in which it does not have expertise in the aftermath of the devastating flood that hit its Himalayan border with China this week, but not in search and rescue, its foreign minister told Reuters late on Friday (Aug 28).

A glacier collapse on Wednesday unleashed a huge torrent of rock, ice, mud and debris through Himalayan mountain river systems, killing more than 600 people in Nepal and China's Tibet, with more than 2,000 still unaccounted for.

The flood tore through areas near the Chinese border, levelling entire towns and damaging hydropower plants.

The Kathmandu Post reported that India, China, the United States, Britain, Japan, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh had asked the government to allow their search-and-rescue teams to assist in the operation.

Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said Kathmandu needs foreign help in areas such as rescuing people stuck in tunnels, opening transport and communication services in places where bridges have been destroyed, identification of dead bodies, DNA testing and storing bodies for longer durations.

"We have already made requests for such specialised services and technical assistance in areas where we don't have enough expertise and technical know-how," Mr Khanal said.

Neighbours India and China, between whom the Himalayan country is wedged, have been requested for bailey bridges to reopen early transport and communication in a disaster-hit area where about two dozen bridges had been destroyed.