About 100 pilgrims from Tamil Nadu remain untraceable in Nepal following the devastating flash floods that struck the Himalayan nation on Wednesday.
As many as 219 travellers from the state have been confirmed safe, Tamil Nadu Information Minister A. Rajmohan said.
Rajmohan said he and his Cabinet colleague, Agriculture Minister R. Vinoth, were in Delhi on the direction of Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay to coordinate the rescue efforts.
The two ministers held discussions with the Foreign Secretary in Delhi and monitored the rescue and relief operations. They returned to Chennai late on Saturday night.
Meanwhile, Minister for Non-Resident Tamils Welfare K. Thennarasu has stayed back in Delhi to coordinate the ongoing rescue operations.
Rajmohan said 319 people from Tamil Nadu had travelled to various Himalayan destinations before the flash floods struck parts of Nepal on August 26. While 219 have been confirmed safe, the remaining travellers are yet to be traced.
Meanwhile, 21 pilgrims from Tamil Nadu have returned home, carrying memories of the horror and astonishment of having survived the disaster. The group was part of a larger contingent undertaking the sacred Kailash Manasarovar Yatra.
“This is an international catastrophe, a massive disaster, and the gravity of it is enormous,” Rajmohan told reporters in Chennai.
Emphasising that there have been accounts of people surviving for four to five days after the disaster, he said, “At this moment, we must not lose hope and faith.”
“Some unclaimed bodies have also been recovered. Until the identification process is fully completed and officially declared, we cannot jump to any conclusions,” he said.
The Tamil Nadu government has set up a war room to assist families affected by the disaster and coordinate efforts to trace those still missing.
A sudden and violent burst of flash floods, accompanied by massive landslides, left a trail of destruction across several districts of Nepal, damaging roads, bridges, settlements and hydropower infrastructure.
The death toll from the disaster has risen to 734, while more than 2,500 people remain missing.
