Nepal wants technical help for flood, not search and rescue, foreign minister says

KATHMANDU — Nepal needs foreign help in specialised and technical areas in which it does not have expertise in the aftermath of the devastating flood that hit its Himalayan border with China this week, but not in search and rescue, its foreign minister told Reuters.

A glacier collapse on Wednesday unleashed a huge torrent of rock, ice, mud and debris through Himalayan mountain river systems, killing nearly 600 people in Nepal and China's Tibet, with more than 2,000 still unaccounted for.

Shisir Khanal said Kathmandu needs foreign help in areas such as rescuing people stuck in tunnels, opening transport and communication services in places where bridges have been destroyed, identification of dead bodies, DNA testing and storing bodies for longer durations.

"We have already made requests for such specialised services and technical assistance in areas where we don't have enough expertise and technical knowhow," Khanal said late on Friday (Aug 28).

Giant neighbours India and China, between whom the poor Himalayan country is wedged, have been requested for bailey bridges to reopen early transport and communication in a disaster-hit area where about two dozen bridges had been destroyed.

Earlier on Friday, Nepal's foreign ministry had said that Kathmandu could manage the rescue efforts on its own for now and declined foreign involvement.

Asked about that stance of his government, Khanal said there was no need for assistance in general search and rescue which was being done by Nepali rescuers. "We think there is no need for repetition in this," he said.

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