Flood in Nepal: the number of missing rises to 3000. "Reconstruction will cost billions…

The devastating floods and landslides in the border region between Nepal and Tibet they caused at least 675 deadto which must be added i 7 deaths in Tibet communicated by the Chinese authorities. Meanwhile, the search for the missing continues. I am 3000 people are still untraceableincluding over 500 foreigners,three of them Italian.

“The situation is what it is.We still have no news from them. We have sent a team from our crisis unit from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It arrived in Kathmandu and in addition the consul and a senior official also arrived from the embassy in New Delhi. We are there to try to give answers to families. Unfortunately the situation is dramatic. There is a risk of another flood. We hope that they can find each other again”, said the Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, on the sidelines of the visit to the swimming stadium of the Mediterranean Games.

The victims in Nepal

According to the latest official update released in the early hours by the Nepalese police,Chitwanit is the most affected district with 178 deaths, followed by Nawalparasi East (110), Gorkha (44), Nuwakot (37), Dhading (33), Tanahun (28), Nawalparasi West (27) and Rasuwa (12). Authorities say they have rescued or assisted further1,545 injuredmost in Nuwakot (898), Rasuwa (644) and Dhading (3); over 80 receive treatment in hospital centers in the Kathmandu Valley.

Hundreds of workers trapped in a tunnel

Nepalese rescuers are trying to free over a hundred workers trapped in a tunnel at the construction site Trishuli hydroelectric damin the Rasuwa district, hit by the devastating flood of the Bhotekoshi river. “Two helicopters have been sent to the site, but identifying the tunnel entrances remains very difficult,” said army spokesman Raja Ram Basnet, adding that 350 workers and local residents have already been evacuated “in very risky conditions, made difficult by bad weather and floods”.

Nepal rejects foreign rescue teams

Nepal needs international help in technical and specialized areas where it has no expertise following the devastating flood that hit the Himalayan border with China, but not in search and rescue operations. This was stated by Minister of Esteri Nepalese Shisir Khanal to Reuters, explaining that Nepal has asked for help in rescuing people trapped in the tunnels, restoring infrastructure and communication routes in the areas where the bridges were destroyed, identifying the corpses, DNA tests and preserving the bodies for prolonged periods. “We have already submitted requests for such specialized services and technical assistance in areas where we do not have sufficient expertise and technical know-how,” Khanal said.

From neighboring giants India and China, Kathmandu has asked Bailey bridges and easily assembled prefabricated structures to restore transport and communications as soon as possible in the area affected by the disaster, where at least twenty bridges have been swept away.
Nepal will need foreign support for reconstruction and rehabilitation work in the future, Khanal added, underlining that there are reports of people trapped inside hydroelectric power plant tunnels and galleries.

Government, reconstruction will cost billions of dollars

The cost of rebuilding regions and infrastructure devastated by catastrophic flash floods in Nepal could amount to “several billion dollars”, Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal has estimated.
“Reconstruction could cost billions of dollars,” Shisir told reporters three days after the disaster that left more than 600 dead and nearly 2,500 missing in the country.