At least 261 foreign nationals, including 49 Indians, remained unaccounted for after a devastating flash flood hit Gyirong Port, a key border crossing between Nepal and Tibet, on August 26, Chinese officials said on Sunday.
The missing foreign nationals are from 23 countries, officials said at a media briefing in Gyirong, according to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency.
The figures were released following a joint search and verification exercise conducted by authorities from the foreign affairs, public security, culture and tourism, and emergency management departments.
Nepal accounts for the largest number of missing foreign nationals at 104, followed by India with 49, Latvia with 33, the United States with 18 and Britain with 15. Six nationals each from Canada and Australia, four from South Africa, three each from Malaysia, Germany and Russia, and two each from Ireland, Estonia, France, the Netherlands and New Zealand were also reported missing.
One national each from Kazakhstan, Finland, Lithuania, Portugal, Ukraine, Spain and Hungary was also unaccounted for, Xinhua reported.
The flash flood struck Gyirong County in Tibet, causing extensive damage in the area. A large number of Indian pilgrims were in Tibet for the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra, which resumed amid an improvement in ties between India and China.
Some of the Indian pilgrims were reportedly inside the immigration building at the Tibet-Nepal border when the flash flood struck. Videos showing floodwaters engulfing the sprawling immigration facility circulated widely on social media following the disaster.
Search and rescue operations and efforts to ascertain the whereabouts of those missing are continuing, officials said.
(With inputs from PTI)