Gift of the Givers on standby as more than 400 tourists remain missing after Nepal floods

Gift of the Givers said it has teams on standby after devastating flash floods and mudslides in Nepal left more than 400 tourists missing, including four South Africans.

Family contact prompts aid offer

The organisation said it had been contacted by the daughter of a South African couple who are missing and that the couple were known to the charity. Founder and chairperson Dr Imtiaz Sooliman said the tour operator confirmed a second South African couple and several international tourists were missing, and that “thousands of homes, shopping malls and businesses have been washed away.”

Access and safety limits rescue options

Sooliman said helicopter surveillance was the only means of access because roads had been destroyed, but that landing was not possible due to high water levels. He warned of an additional risk: “Furthermore, there is a huge danger that a dam may collapse as a secondary impact, putting teams at enormous risk.”

Teams ready but awaiting call

Gift of the Givers has 11 urban search and water rescue team members prepared for deployment, along with four SAPS dog handlers and four dogs authorised by Deputy National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili. Ahmed Bham, the charity’s head of search and rescue, was reported to be in communication with Nepalese disaster authorities, with whom the organisation has a relationship dating to its 2015 earthquake response.

Sooliman said Nepalese authorities had suggested teams remain on standby and not travel because the government had not yet called for international assistance, but that such a request “may just be forthcoming once the true scale of the disaster is manifest in daylight hours.”

Logistics, diplomatic channels and command

The disaster site is 125km from Kathmandu, and operations will be managed from the capital by the military, the organisation said. Gift of the Givers reported it was in touch with the Nepalese Embassy in South Africa, which is prepared to process visas immediately, and that it was working with airlines on logistical arrangements. Sooliman said “DIRCO will be contacted for diplomatic support if the teams are deployed,” and that “Both DIRCO and the Nepalese Embassy will be visited in the morning.”

Scale of the disaster and ongoing rescue efforts

Earlier reports cited by the organisation put the death toll at more than 155 and said the number of missing had risen from more than 300 to more than 400 after flash floods along the Bhote Koshi River. The missing reportedly include tourists from several countries; hospitals were treating more than 40 injured people. Search-and-rescue operations are continuing amid damaged roads, unstable terrain and swollen rivers, with authorities using helicopters and specialised teams to search for survivors.

“They suggest that teams should remain on standby and not travel as the government has not made a call for international assistance as yet,”

The organisation said it was holding off on deployment until an official call for international assistance is made.