KABUL (Pajhwok): More than 100 foreign tourists have been stranded in various parts of Nepal following floods in the central parts of the country, while rescue teams have so far saved 321 people, including 12 foreign nationals, a media report said on Tuesday.
According to Reuters, a landslide in Gorkha district, about 100 kilometres west of the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, blocked the Budhi Gandaki River, triggering floods in downstream areas.
The incident, which occurred in recent days, damaged mountain trekking routes and bridges, leaving a number of foreign tourists stranded in different areas, the report said.
Nepalese officials said on Monday that rescue teams had saved 321 people, including 12 foreign nationals.
The Nepalese army said rescue operations would continue on Tuesday despite the river’s water level receding.
According to Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, no deaths had been reported in connection with the floods, but contact had been lost with five local residents.
Bhuwan Raj Ojha, an official with the Manaslu Conservation Area Project, said trekkers had been stranded in different areas along the popular Manaslu trekking trail because part of the route had been swept away.
“Those hikers who want to return because of the flood need to be rescued. Those who want to continue their trekking can do so from locations that are safe,” he said.
“There are restaurants and tea houses along the route. They are safe.”
Meanwhile, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) said preliminary assessments suggested the floods might have been caused by the breach of a temporary dam formed by a landslide.
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