CHENNAI: About 100 of the nearly 319 individuals who travelled from Tamil Nadu through to Nepal were still untraceable and missing following the flash floods there, state minister A Rajmohan has said.
As many as 219 persons are safe and secure, the Minister for Information added.
Explaining the action taken to bring the Tamil pilgrims stranded in Nepal and nearby territories falling under China, Rajmohan said that over the past three days, he and his Cabinet colleagues were in Delhi as per Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay's directive to coordinate the rescue efforts.
Referring to discussion held with the Foreign Secretary, Rajmohan, flanked by Agriculture Minister R Vinoth, said, 319 individuals travelled through various groups to the Himalayan destinations before the floods wreaked havoc.
He said that out of the 319 people, nearly 219 are safe and secure and that the remaining were still untraceable and missing.
"This is an international catastrophe, a massive disaster, and the gravity of it is enormous," he told reporters at the Chennai airport late on Saturday.
Currently, Minister for Non-Resident Tamils Welfare, K Thennarasu is staying back in Delhi in connection with the rescue operations.
The government of Tamil Nadu immediately set up a war room to help the affected families, he added. Rajmohan and Vinoth returned to Chennai late on Saturday night from the national capital.