Nepal Seeks International Help for Tunnel Rescue, Body Identification After Flood Disaster: Reports

Kathmandu: Nepal's government has appealed for foreign assistance to support a tunnel rescue operation and to help identify and store bodies in the wake of the catastrophic floods that struck the country's border with Tibet earlier this week.

Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal told Reuters on Friday that the country requires specialised technical support in areas where it lacks expertise, though he clarified that search and rescue efforts themselves were not among the areas needing outside help. He said Nepal had already put in formal requests for such specialised and technical assistance.

The appeal comes as the Nepalese army continues a perilous rescue operation to reach people trapped inside a tunnel at a hydropower project in Rasuwa district, one of the areas worst hit by the floods. Rescue teams have been shown crawling through thick mud to reach those trapped and carry them to safety.

Khanal also said Nepal has requested bailey bridges — quick-to-assemble, prefabricated truss bridges — from both India and China, to help restore transport links and communication in the disaster zone, where roughly two dozen bridges have been washed away or destroyed.