- Over 5,000 remain missing in Aug. 26 floods likely caused by glacier collapse in Nepal
- Cargo flight carrying family tents, blankets, mats, hygiene kits sent to Katmandu, says FO
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan dispatched a 100-ton chartered cargo flight to Nepal carrying relief items for flood-affected people, the foreign office said on Sunday, as the death toll from floods in the South Asian country surge past 1,300.
Nepal’s national disaster management authority has said that at least 1,331 people have been killed, while over 5,000 remain missing due to the Aug. 26 floods likely to be caused by a glacier collapse. Officials in Tibet, the autonomous region of China across the border, have recorded 31 deaths and 531 people missing.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had announced on Thursday that Pakistan would send relief items to Nepal. The 100-ton chartered cargo flight was dispatched from Islamabad for Nepal’s Katmandu on Sunday, the foreign office said.
“The humanitarian assistance, coordinated by the NDMA [National Disaster Management Authority] is being provided for the flood-affected population of Nepal,” the foreign office said.
The flight carried humanitarian relief items such as family tents, blankets, mats, hygiene kits and essential medicines, the statement said.
A send-off ceremony was held at the Islambad airport in the presence of Federal Minister Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhary, NDMA Chairman Lt. Gen. Inam Haider Malik along with the Nepalese ambassador to Pakistan, and senior officials from renowned humanitarian organizations in Pakistan.
“The assistance reflects Government and people of Pakistan’s solidarity with the brotherly people of Nepal in this difficult time,” the foreign office concluded.
International teams from India, China and South Korea are assisting Nepali forces with rescue operations, while equipment including drones and other rescue materials has been deployed in affected areas.
The floods struck Nepal on Aug. 26 after a massive surge of water, mud and debris swept through areas close to the China border and downstream into the Trishuli and Narayani river systems, affecting several districts and destroying homes, roads, bridges and hydropower facilities. Nepal says the precise cause is still being studied.
