Canadian Citizen Located Following Catastrophic Nepal Flooding
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Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand confirms one missing person has been found safe as Canada scales up humanitarian aid to the region.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand announced Tuesday that one of the 30 missing Canadian citizens and permanent residents has been found safe following catastrophic flooding in Nepal's border region with China. According to CBC, the individual had been unreachable due to communication outages but was able to establish contact on Tuesday.
The crisis began one week ago when a glacier collapsed in the Himalayan border region, triggering deadly flash floods. Reporting from CBC notes that the devastation is widespread, with drone footage showing mud-caked debris and the skeletal remains of homes in the town of Devighat. The human toll is severe; more than 1,100 people have died and over 3,900 remain missing. Nepal's Foreign Ministry reports that approximately 590 foreign nationals from 39 different countries are still unaccounted for.
In response to the disaster, Minister Anand stated that Ottawa has already pledged $5 million in humanitarian aid. Additionally, Canada will be deploying more than 18,000 emergency items sourced from Canadian Red Cross stockpiles to the affected area.