A Malaysian tourist reported missing has been rescued alive, 37 days after devastating floods and landslides struck the border region between Nepal and Tibet. Stranded in a remote mountainous area without electricity or potable water, he had been cut off from the outside world after roads and bridges were destroyed. He later reported his survival to the Malaysian Embassy in Kathmandu and has since returned home safely. The online edition of The Independent reported this news.
The floods, triggered by a glacier collapse and avalanche on the Langtang Lirung peak in the Himalayas, have so far claimed over 1,400 lives, with more than 5,000 people still missing in Nepal alone. Hundreds of others went missing in neighboring Tibet and China. The US Geological Survey (USGS) stated that the glacier collapse generated seismic tremors equivalent to a magnitude 5.2 earthquake. Fifty-five Malaysian citizens in Nepal went missing after the disaster struck in late August; this is the first instance of one of them being rescued alive and unharmed.
‘Masfih,’ an organization representing the families of the missing, stated that the tourist was caught in the floods the day after visiting the Nagthali Viewpoint on August 25. He remained stranded there due to the destruction of infrastructure. Rescue operations were severely hampered by the collapse of communication networks in the affected areas and extremely adverse weather conditions. Nepal’s Department of Tourism reported that foreign nationals from more than 30 countries—including India, the United States, the UK, Ukraine, Malaysia, and Australia—remain missing.
