NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Friday received 21 Tamil Nadu pilgrims after they were rescued from the floods in Nepal.In a social media post on X, Jaishankar said that he was moved after hearing their experience and thanked Nepal government and army for their rescue effort.“Received a group of 21 pilgrims from Tamil Nadu who were rescued from the floods in Nepal,” Jaishankar said.“Was moved to hear their experience first hand. Thank the Nepali Army and Government for this rescue effort. Appreciate Embassy of India, Kathmandu’s facilitation of their smooth return to India,” he added.While talking to reporters at Delhi airport, Jaishankar also said that the government is focused on contacting all the Indians who are stranded in Nepal.“So I want to say right now we are still very much focused on contacting all the Indians who are there. We believe a little more than 300, the exact number keeps going up and down, about 315 Indians are still not being contacted,” Jaishankar said.The death toll from Nepal’s devastating flash flood in the Bhotekoshi River area of Rasuwa has risen to 538 while 977 people are still missing, according to an update from Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.The figures, as of 3 PM (local time) on Friday, show a grim picture of the scale of the disaster as authorities continue search, rescue and relief operations across the affected areas following the catastrophic flooding on Wednesday.Of the 538 bodies recovered, the largest number has been recorded in Chitwan, with 221, followed by 134 in Nawalparasi East.
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Authorities have also recovered 46 bodies or human remains in Gorkha, 37 in Nuwakot, 33 in Dhading, 28 in Tanahun, 27 in Nawalparasi West and 12 in Rasuwa, according to the NDRRMA figures.The number of people reported missing stands at 977, including foreign nationals, Nepali citizens living abroad who were visiting Nepal, security personnel and government officials.Foreign nationals account for 517 of those reported missing, while 161 people were reported missing through the Rasuwa District Emergency Operations Centre (DEOC).Another 127 are Nepali citizens living abroad who were visiting Nepal, while 66 were reported missing through the Makwanpur DEOC.
