Himalayan floods: Germany offers assistance
The German government is providing financial support, while NGOs are delivering emergency aid in the disaster area. Germans are among those missing.
Gyirong/Kathmandu (dpa/d.de) – German aid is under way following the devastating flash floods in the Himalayan border region between Nepal and Tibet, which have so far claimed around 750 lives. The German government has pledged financial support and is making a substantial contribution to the EU’s €2 million in emergency humanitarian aid. Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz has expressed his sympathy to those affected.
German NGOs such as Welthungerhilfe, Diakonie and Humedica are also providing emergency assistance on the ground through local networks. They are supplying food, clean drinking water, medicines and emergency shelter in remote mountain villages. Aid is being distributed through existing partner networks, as destroyed bridges and masses of mud are severely hampering logistics in the affected valleys. The alliance of German aid organisations Aktion Deutschland Hilft is also collecting donations and funding relief efforts through its member organisations.
The search for survivors is being coordinated by the Nepalese army. Three Germans are among the 261 people missing, according to representatives of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The Federal Foreign Office had previously said that a high single-digit number of Germans were missing. A family of four from Germany has already been rescued.
