More than 50 pilgrims from Tamil Nadu who had travelled to Nepal are stranded following a flash flood in the Bhote Koshi River upstream that killed at least nine people in Nepal and Tibet, washed away villages and damaged infrastructure on Wednesday, officials said.
In Bihar, officials have identified areas such as Jhandu Tola, Bin Toli, Chakdahwa and Kailashnagar as vulnerable areas. A travel agent who organised the trip from Kumbakonam said some of the pilgrims managed to take refuge at an Armed Police Force outpost in Timure, about 150 km north of Kathmandu. However, he was unable to contact them due to a lack of mobile connectivity following the incident.
Tamil Nadu government officials are currently engaged in coordinated efforts to rescue the stranded pilgrims, officials said. The official said that teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were being mobilised to handle any emergency. Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay said in a statement that he has instructed senior officials of the Tamil Nadu government at the Tamil Nadu House in Delhi to take all the necessary measures to swiftly rescue those hailing from Tamil Nadu missing in this disaster and to provide all required assistance to those affected. “Emergency telephone numbers have been announced to enable Tamils stranded in Nepal or their relatives in Tamil Nadu to reach out if they seek help” he added.
