The death toll from the massive Nepal-Tibet flash floods rose to 362 on Thursday, including 359 in Nepal and three in neighbouring Tibet, as rescuers launched a desperate race against time to trace hundreds still missing, including 290 Indian nationals.
Actor Ankur Ratan narrowly escaped the devastation. He was part of a group led by SAAD Mountaineers, a registered club in Maharashtra. It has halted at Saga town—located at 15,223 feet above sea level—a crucial stop for pilgrims travelling to Mount Kailash. The disaster also left 558 people missing in Tibet, officials said, taking the number of people reported missing on the two sides of the border to 1,468. The MEA said 84 Indian nationals had been rescued, including 63 workers employed at the under-construction Trishuli-I run-of-river hydroelectric project and 21 from Tamil Nadu.
The actor, who was part of Mai, told Indian Express that just a day earlier he was taking pictures at Rasuwa—a district north of Nepal’s capital Kathmandu. New Delhi is making “urgent efforts” to ascertain their whereabouts and coordinate their rescue, the ministry said.
