Foreign rescue teams have begun arriving in Nepal to assist search-and-rescue operations in areas devastated by flooding.
A specialized tunnel rescue team from neighbouring India was ready to start work, said Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal in Kathmandu on Saturday. A Chinese search-and-rescue team was also expected to arrive shortly, he added.
Nepal's government has requested technical support for the search and rescue operations, Khanal said. The teams are to help find workers trapped in tunnels at hydroelectric power stations along the flood-affected rivers.
According to the minister, the rescuers had to deploy to the area by land as the terrain makes helicopter operations difficult. "Due to this complex geography and the impact of the floods, the search and rescue operations have proved difficult," Khanal stated.
Earlier, reports had circulated in the Nepalese media that the government had initially turned down offers of foreign assistance.
Citing a foreign ministry official, the English-language Kathmandu Post newspaper reported that the government had maintained that its own authorities were capable of handling the operations.
The first hours following natural disasters are considered crucial for search and rescue operations.
Khanal denied that Nepal had rejected foreign aid, saying that international assistance was being sought based on specific operational needs. He stressed that the scale of the destruction was enormous.
"Help and support are needed not only during the rescue and relief phase, but above all during the reconstruction phase," he added.
