Over 100 Foreign Trekkers Stranded by Floods in Nepal’s Gorkha Region
According to a local official, more than 100 foreign trekkers are stranded in central Nepal. This incident comes a day after flash floods in Gorkha district washed away bridges, hiking trails, and hundreds of homes.
Bhuwan Raj Ojha, an official with the Manaslu Conservation Area Project, told the Reuters news agency on Monday that trekkers are stranded in various parts of the popular Manaslu trekking trail because sections of the path have been washed away.
Speaking to Reuters from Gorkha, he said, “Hikers who wish to return due to the floods should be rescued. Those who want to continue their trek can do so from safe locations.”
“There are restaurants and teahouses along the route. They are safe.” The flash floods occurred on Sunday after a pre-dawn landslide blocked the flow of the Budhi Gandaki River in Gorkha district, located approximately 100 km (62 miles) west of Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu.
On Monday, officials rescued 321 people, including 12 foreigners. The army stated that rescue operations would continue on Tuesday, even though the river’s water level has receded.
The river is a tributary of the Trishuli River. Further downstream lies another tributary where a glacier collapse in August triggered devastating floods that killed 1,457 people, with thousands still missing.
National disaster officials reported no fatalities from the latest floods, though five villagers are out of contact. A torrent of black mud and debris washed away more than 200 homes and damaged infrastructure, including three hydroelectric plants. Mohammad Shahadat Hossain, a Bangladeshi trekker stranded in Jagat village, told the Anadolu Agency that nine Bangladeshis are waiting to be evacuated by helicopter.
“We have been stranded in Jagat since yesterday. A flash flood suddenly swept over the village, passing through its lower sections,” he said. “We are safe, but there has been no electricity since yesterday, we are cut off from the outside world, and our food and water supplies are gradually running out.”
Officials in Gorkha district have asked villagers living in low-lying areas along the river to move to safer locations.
National disaster management officials had also issued flood warnings to people living along the riverbanks in the Gorkha, Tanahun, Chitwan, East Nawalparasi, and West Nawalparasi districts.
