UN chief ‘saddened’ by Nepal tragedy, offers help
United Nations, Aug 27 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “saddened” by the flooding in “Nepal and China” in which 157 people died, and hundreds from around the world are missing, and has offered the world organisation’s help for the relief efforts.
His Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday (local time), “He extends his condolences to the families of the victims and wishes a swift recovery to those injured”.
Guterres “expresses his solidarity with all those affected”, he added.
Guterres “commends the emergency responders working to save lives and reiterates the United Nations’ readiness to provide further support”, he said.
Nepali authorities said that at least 134 Indians were among those missing.
Many of them are pilgrims on the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra to the holy mountain in Tibet.
On Wednesday, a massive torrent of water and mud tore through an area along the border between Nepal and Tibet, catching people unaware, before smothering them in a sea of mud and sending buildings and bridges crashing.
The most severely affected area was the crossing points at Rasuwagadhi on the Nepal side and Gyirong in Tibet.
Dujarric said the UN is helping the Nepal government with assessing the scale of the disaster and delivering urgent assistance.
“UN teams and humanitarian partners are mobilising supplies and personnel to support communities affected by the floods”, he said.
The tally of the missing shows the broad international reach of the tragedy.
Besides the Indians, the missing include 47 Americans, 33 Britons, 34 Australians, 24 Canadians and 19 Malaysians, according to Nepal’s Tourism Board.
Some South Africans were also reported missing.
The Nepali government said 44 Nepal Army personnel, 28 police personnel deployed at various police posts, and 13 Armed Police Force (APF) personnel working in the affected areas remained out of contact.
Additionally, nine hydropower projects and several commercial banks, at least 19 motorable bridges and dozens of public and private properties have been swept away.
Authorities are continuing to collect details of the human and physical losses caused by the disaster.
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