By GB News (Politics) | Created at 2026-08-27 09:51:37 | Updated at 2026-09-19 16:19:20
3 weeks ago
Andy Burnham has said the UK has offered £5million to help the Nepalese government amid a "very distressing and devastating situation" following flash floods.
The Prime Minister told reporters an offer had also been made for emergency responders to head to the affected area.
Thirty-three British citizens, including a 13-year-old girl, are missing following the extreme flash flooding in Nepal.
A 14-year-old boy is also among the missing British nationals as the total number of missing people rose from 403 to 826.
Speaking to journalists during a visit to South Wales, the Prime Minister said: "It’s a devastating picture that is emerging from what has happened in Nepal.
"Scenes that we’ve never seen the like before, I don’t think, certainly the scale of the devastation.
"So there is immediate action being taken. We are deploying consular support staff to the region so that British nationals will be able to access support 24/7.
"An offer has been made of emergency responders to head to the region but that’s obviously a matter for the Nepalese government.
Thirty-three British citizens, including a 13-year-old girl, are missing following the extreme flash flooding in Nepal
GETTY
"But also we’ve offered £5 million to help with that response effort," Mr Burnham added.
"Obviously, there are a number of British nationals who currently are thought to be missing and we’ll be providing all the support we can to their families in what is a very distressing and devastating situation."
A wall of mud and rock appeared to collapse into a river on the Himalayan border between Nepal and Tibet, triggering catastrophic flooding on the Nepali side.
Rescue efforts have continued throughout today.
Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said 165 bodies have so far been recovered following flooding in the Rasuwa district, which borders China’s autonomous region of Tibet.
Footage posted online showed dozens of people swept away at the border, with authorities on both the Chinese and Nepalese sides fearing far higher casualties and massive destruction.
Houses, roads and power projects were swept away in Nepal, while officials in Tibet said they feared "major casualties" with some missing in the county of Gyirong after a mudslide hit a border land crossing.
Rescue helicopters could not land in Nepal's affected areas of Syapru Besi and Timure in the mountainous district of Rasuwa, with a population of about 50,000, officials said, with the river flowing above its normal course.
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