The Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) reports that its Consular Department has currently compiled information from various sources, including family members and friends, concerning 39 tourists from Latvia who are in Nepal.
Of these, 34 are Latvian nationals travelling as part of two tourist groups.
Relatives have informed the Consular Department about 28 people whom they have been unable to contact since the disaster occurred.
According to the MFA, efforts to compile information are complicated by the fact that none of the travellers in the tourist groups had registered with the Consular Register. Only one individual traveller had registered. That person has been contacted and is safe.
On the afternoon of the 27th of August, the Consular Department sent all relatives the latest available information about the situation.
The Nepal Tourism Department has currently published information identifying six Latvian citizens as missing.
The Consular Department has informed the relatives of these individuals. The list is expected to be updated in the near future.
Latvia’s Honorary Consul in Nepal has provided Nepalese authorities with a list of Latvian nationals and has also met with the country’s Minister of Home Affairs. At present, there is no information indicating that any Latvian nationals have been injured. Latvia’s Honorary Consul remains in active contact with local authorities in an effort to obtain further information. The Latvian Embassy in China is also communicating with local institutions and monitoring the latest developments, the MFA said.
Rescue operations are continuing in the region, which remains without telephone or internet access. Those rescued are being gathered in Nuwakot, a neighbouring province. Registration of the rescued and publication of their names are expected to begin within the next two days, according to the MFA.
Rescue services have published the names of people who have been rescued, but so far no Latvian nationals appear on the lists.
Nepalese police have also created a public online portal to help families identify unidentified individuals. The website also provides lists of missing and located persons. Information about the portal has been sent to relatives, the MFA said.
As previously reported, on the evening of Wednesday, the 26th of August, the MFA Consular Department’s 24-hour emergency hotline began receiving calls from relatives unable to contact family members and friends currently in Nepal.
At least 469 people have been killed in flash floods triggered by a glacier collapse in Nepal, while more than 1,400 people, including hundreds of foreign tourists, remain missing, police said on Friday.
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