Washington, September 4, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Families of Americans missing after devastating flash floods in Nepal have appealed to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for an expanded rescue operation, seeking helicopters, drones, satellite imagery and specialised search teams to locate their relatives.
The families said the US State Department had informed them that 90 Americans remained unaccounted for, while five had been rescued after flash floods swept through Nepal’s Rasuwa district on August 26. The list of missing people also includes nationals of Australia, Canada, Britain, Singapore, France and South Africa, with many of those listed being of Indian origin.
Many of the missing were travelling to or from Mount Kailash in Tibet along a route through Nepal that crosses into China at Gyirong.
In an August 29 letter to Rubio, relatives and friends of 57 missing people — including 31 Americans and 26 foreign nationals — urged Washington to step up its response.
“We are Americans, and we are asking our government to rescue our family members now,” the families said.
They thanked the US Embassy in Kathmandu as well as Nepali soldiers and pilots involved in rescue efforts, but said the scale of the American response had not matched the urgency of the situation.
The families urged Washington to formally offer Nepal US military helicopters capable of operating at high altitudes, along with crews, fuel and ground support. They also requested drones equipped with thermal and infrared cameras, technology to locate people trapped beneath debris, mobile-phone detection equipment and temporary cellular coverage over affected areas.
They further sought US satellite surveillance of the corridor from Rasuwagadhi to Trishuli Bazar and Devighat, including radar imagery capable of operating through cloud cover.
The families also asked the US to deploy an urban search-and-rescue team to Kathmandu for immediate deployment if Nepal accepts the assistance, besides expanding consular support by assigning liaisons to affected families and placing officers at hospitals and closer to the rescue operation in Rasuwa.
Some missing travellers were last known to be on the Gyirong side of the Nepal-China border. The families have therefore urged Washington to seek information and consular access from China and coordinate efforts with Australia, Britain, India and Singapore, whose nationals were travelling in some of the same groups.
The missing American citizens listed by the families include residents of Illinois, Virginia, Texas, New York, New Jersey, California, Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Massachusetts, Maryland, Tennessee and Ohio.
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