Thiruvananthapuram: Norka ROOTS on Friday informed that 60 of the 82 Keralites stranded in Nepal after the flash floods were safe. Of the 22 Malayalis whose whereabouts are yet to be traced, 14 are residents of other states. Information related to them has been passed on to the states concerned. Therefore, eight Malayalis are yet to be tracked. 

Of the missing eight, four have Australian citizenship. "We have still not been able to establish contact with these eight. But we have handed over all the relevant information about the eight to the Ministry of External Affairs," Norka ROOTS CEO Rajesh Madhvan said.  

In fact, basic information like names, addresses and identity proofs of all the 82 had been passed on to the MEA. It was after receiving this information that Indian authorities were able to connect with the stranded Malayalis. 

It is still not clear whether only 82 Malayalis had gone missing when the disaster struck on August 27. "This list of 82 names have been prepared based on calls received (from family members, relatives and friends of the missing) at the helpdesks functioning in the offices of the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary, the Disaster Management Authority and Norka ROOTS," the Norka ROOTS CEO said. It is possible that there could be more.

The CEO informed that the 23-member Indian team with 19 Keralites that had gone on a trip to Manasarovar were at the moment travelling from Darchen to Saga County, both in Tibet. "By evening today, they will reach Saga. On August 29, they will travel to Nepal's capital Kathmandu through the Kodari-Nyalam border crossing. Our information is that they will take off from Kathmandu to India on August 31. We are closely monitoring their trip," the CEO said. These 19 are also included in the list of 82 missing. 

Certain other Keralites who were caught in the Nepal floods have reportedly informed their families that they have reached Darjeeling in West Bengal. Some others are secure in the Mount Everest area. "We have also received information about an individual who was last located at the mountain village Thulo Syabru in Nepal's Langtang region and also another person who was facing some travel difficulty at Jajarkot in Nepal's Karnali province," the CEO said.

The death toll from the flash floods in Nepal rose to 547 on Friday, with more bodies recovered as search and rescue operations continued amid the threat of fresh flooding.

Meanwhile, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said 21 Indian nationals from Tamil Nadu, stranded in flood-affected areas of Nepal, had landed in Delhi. He also said 63 Indians working at the Trishuli One hydropower project had been rescued, while 96 Indians stranded on the Chinese side had safely crossed into Nepal. Efforts are under way to evacuate them.

Jaiswal said 320 people remained uncontactable or missing, along with around 100 people of Indian origin who may have travelled for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and hold other nationalities.