One of the three Spanish citizens who were listed as missing after the flood that hit northern Nepal has been located, as reported by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) in its latest bulletin.
The official body has included one of the Spaniards in the section of rescued people, while maintaining two other Spanish citizens on the list of missing or missing persons. At the moment, no details have been offered about the identity of the Spaniard located or the circumstances in which he was found.
The news represents a positive development after the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs reduced this Friday from four to three the number of Spanish citizens whose whereabouts were unknown after the catastrophe. The Spanish Embassy in New Delhi, the Honorary Consulate of Spain in Nepal and the Consulate General of Spain in Beijing are continuing negotiations with local authorities to try to locate the rest.
Hours before the location of one of them was known, the Government of Nepal had released a list with the names of more than 600 tourists considered missing or out of contact.
The information from the Nepalese authorities came after on Thursday the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, confirmed that there were four Spaniards unaccounted for in the affected area. This Friday, Foreign Affairs reduced the figure to three, without specifying that one of them had already been located.
A catastrophe that leaves hundreds dead
Floods and landslides occurred on Wednesday in northern Nepal, near the border with Tibet, after the Bhotekoshi River swollen. The first investigations point to the collapse of a glacier as a possible trigger for the enormous avalanche of ice, mud and debris that devastated numerous infrastructures and towns.
The toll of victims continues to increase. Nepal has raised the death toll to 538 this Friday and has hundreds of people missing, while emergency teams continue working in the most affected areas. In addition, there is concern about the possible formation of new overflows due to the accumulation of water and debris in several channels.
Rescue efforts are being hampered by damage to roads and bridges and the risk of new flooding. The authorities maintain surveillance over several barrier lakes formed by the materials carried by the flood, given the possibility that they could overflow.
At the moment, two Spaniards remain missing, while Foreign Affairs and the Nepalese authorities continue working to determine the whereabouts of both.
