37 Bengal residents remain untraced after Nepal flash floods: Adhikari

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said two of 39 people from the state reported missing after Nepal flash floods have been traced safely, while efforts continue to locate 37 others. The state has sought Centre’s approval to send a team to Nepal

Kolkata: Two of the 39 people from West Bengal reported missing following flash floods in Nepal have been found to be safe, and efforts were underway to trace the rest, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Friday. He held a virtual meeting with the kin of the missing people and said that two members of a family had been contacted by their relatives as well as the state.

They are near Birgunj in Nepal, and arrangements were being made to bring them back, the chief minister said and assured the other worried families that the government was making all efforts to trace their missing kin.

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“A total of 39 people were missing. Of them, two of a family could be contacted by their family members and the state government. We could not get in touch with 37 others,” he said.

Senior police officers were present at the meeting held virtually from Bhabani Bhavan, the headquarters of the West Bengal Police. Adhikari said the list of missing persons shared by the Indian High Commission in Nepal had confirmed that 32 tourists from Bengal, who had visited the Himalayan nation as part of a trip arranged by a tourism company, remained untraced. The state government has sought the Centre’s permission to send a team to Nepal to assist the authorities there in tracing the missing persons, the chief minister said.

The team will comprise an MP, an MLA, a police officer of the IG rank and an official of the rank of secretary or joint secretary, he said, adding the state would need the Ministry of External Affairs’ (MEA’s) nod to send such a group to Nepal.

During the meeting, the families of missing people raised several concerns and sought formulation of a mechanism through which they could share information and receive updates. “The state government will set up a WhatsApp group for the families,” Adhikari said.

Some of those missing had travelled to Nepal for pilgrimage, while others had gone there as tourists. Several people were also travelling along the Kailash Mansarovar route. Adhikari said the government was also examining the possibility of the family members of the missing people travelling to Nepal or Tibet to look for their kin.

An ice-rock landslide blocked a river near Nepal’s border with China, triggering a flash flood that devastated the Himalayan nation, leaving at least 547 dead. According to the MEA, at least 320 Indians remain missing, and around 400 others are stranded on the Chinese side following the flash floods.