5 Japanese Nationals Missing after Flash Floods in Nepal

New Delhi, Aug. 27 (Jiji Press)--More than 1,400 people, including five Japanese tourists, are unaccounted for following deadly flash floods in the Rasuwa district of Nepal on Wednesday, authorities in the Himalayan country said Thursday.

The five Japanese are members of the same family, according to Nepali tourism industry sources.

People whose whereabouts cannot be confirmed include 644 tourists, 517 of whom are foreigners, the Nepali tourism authority said.

The death toll from the flash floods has reached at least 359, according to local police. A community located along the Bhote Koshi River, which flows from China to Nepal, was devastated by the disaster, with bridges and multiple hydropower plants sustaining damage.

The Japanese Embassy in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, said that it is working to confirm the safety of Japanese nationals in the wake of the disaster while asking Nepali authorities to search for the five Japanese whose whereabouts are unknown.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]