Nepal says foreign rescue teams not needed after deadly flash flood

Kathmandu, Nepal. Nepal’s foreign ministry said on Friday that it does not currently need foreign assistance for search-and-rescue operations after devastating flash floods swept through several towns, killing close to 500 people.

Hundreds of foreign nationals remain missing, including South Koreans working at a hydropower plant in Rasuwa district near the Chinese border.

Government response

The floods levelled entire towns, damaged hydropower projects and hit areas including Rasuwa district, which borders China’s Tibet region.

“The offer for help is natural. Our security agencies are doing the search and rescue operation. For now we don’t require such help,” foreign ministry spokesperson Lok Bahadur Chhetri said, without providing further details.

International offers

South Korea said it had already sent a response team to Nepal and would also dispatch a disaster relief team. Its foreign ministry said Nepal had indicated that it was not yet planning to accept foreign rescue teams.

“South Korea will keep negotiating with Nepal over the matter,” the ministry said.

South Korea’s foreign minister said on X that Seoul had pledged $1 million in humanitarian assistance through international organisations.

Nine South Koreans working at a hydropower plant were missing and 10 others were stranded, South Korea’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

Other countries

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

Dinesh Bhattarai, a former Nepali ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, said the government’s reluctance to accept foreign teams may be linked to the sensitivity of flood-hit Rasuwa district, which borders China’s Tibet region.