WASHINGTON, SEPTEMBER 4: Families of American nationals missing since the devastating flash floods in Nepal have urged US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to expand rescue and search operations to locate their relatives.
At least 90 US nationals remain unaccounted for following the flash floods that swept through northern and central Nepal on August 26.
In a letter dated August 29, relatives and friends of 57 missing people—including 31 Americans and 26 nationals of other countries—appealed to the US Government for greater efforts to trace those missing.
“We want all of them found. We write as Americans because we expected more from our own government for the Americans among them,” the families said in the letter.
Most of the missing were travelling on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash along a route passing through Nepal’s Rasuwa district and into Tibet through Gyirong.
The families said they had not been informed of any deployment of American aircraft, search teams or consular officers in the affected valley. They also claimed that attempts to contact numbers provided by the US State Department over two days had yielded no response.
They have sought the deployment of high-altitude aircraft and specialised search equipment, satellite imagery and advanced data analysis, emergency connectivity through Starlink, closer coordination between US consulates and Nepalese authorities, and additional urban search teams and funding.
Ajay Bhutoria, a former White House adviser and Indian-American community leader, stressed the need for swift and coordinated action during the crisis.
The families also urged Washington to seek consular access and information from China and coordinate rescue efforts with other countries whose citizens were part of the same tour groups, including Australia, the UK, India and Singapore.
Meanwhile, the death toll from the Nepal flash floods rose to 1,282 on Friday, with more bodies being recovered. Search and rescue operations are continuing to locate more than 4,700 people still reported missing.
