UAE pledges $10 million in aid to boost Nepal-Tibet flood relief efforts

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced on Thursday a $10 million humanitarian aid package to support relief efforts following devastating floods on the border between Nepal and Tibet, China. The floods caused hundreds of deaths and left many more people missing. The aid will be managed by the UAE Aid Agency under President Sheikh Mohamed's directions.

Rescue teams are still actively searching for survivors after a massive wall of ice, mud, and rock collapsed into a mountain river, resulting in a catastrophic flash flood. As of Thursday, the death toll stood at over 350 people, with more than 1,000 others still unaccounted for in Nepal and neighboring China. Nepalese authorities are utilizing helicopters to search for survivors and deliver emergency supplies to the thousands of people stranded in towns and valleys, following the flash floods that destroyed a road linking Kathmandu with Lhasa in Tibet.

Dr. Tareq Al Amiri, chairman of the UAE Aid Agency, emphasized the country's leading role in providing critical humanitarian responses to disasters and crises worldwide. A UAE Aid Agency team is currently collaborating with local authorities and international organizations to ensure that the necessary support reaches those affected by the disaster.

Survivors of the flood shared their harrowing experiences. Girilal Budhathoki, one of the patients receiving care in a hospital, recounted that the flood claimed both his wife and child, leaving him devastated. His brother, Newall, expressed his despair, stating that he no longer wanted to live after witnessing the tragedy and realizing that most of their family had not survived.

At Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj, Newall described the moment he understood that his brother had survived, but most of their family had perished.