UAE Commits $10 Million in Urgent Aid for Devastating Nepal-Tibet Floods

The UAE announced a $10 million humanitarian aid package on Thursday to bolster critical relief efforts following devastating floods along the Nepal-Tibet border, which have resulted in hundreds of deaths and widespread destruction. This crucial financial assistance will be delivered through the UAE Aid Agency on the directives of President Sheikh Mohamed, as rescue teams continue their desperate search for survivors after an avalanche of ice, mud, and rock collapsed into a mountain river, triggering a catastrophic flash flood.

As of Thursday, the death toll surpassed 350 people, with over 1,000 reported missing across the Himalayan country and neighbouring China. Authorities in Nepal have deployed helicopters to hunt for survivors and drop emergency supplies to thousands of people cut off in towns and valleys after the fierce floods swept away a major road filled with trekkers and pilgrims connecting Kathmandu with Lhasa in Tibet.

Dr Tareq Al Amiri, chairman of the UAE Aid Agency, stressed the country's leading role in supporting urgent humanitarian responses to disasters and crises worldwide. He noted that teams from the UAE Aid Agency are working closely with local authorities and international organisations to ensure that vital support reaches affected groups efficiently.

The National visited hospitals on Thursday where medical staff were working around the clock to treat those injured in the severe floods. Girilal Budhathoki, a survivor receiving care at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj, shared his grief, stating that the flood took his wife, child, and everyone he held dear. His brother Newall sought to console him during the harrowing ordeal, recalling the sudden nature of the disaster and explaining that there was simply no chance to save anyone as nobody knew it was coming.