Nepal-China Floods Leave 56 Ukrainians Missing

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry reported 56 citizens still missing as of Sept. 25 after floods and landslides along the Nepal-China border, with no confirmed Ukrainian deaths or injuries. The missing include a group of mostly Ukrainian travelers led by spiritual teacher Irina Blonskaya who were returning from a Mount Kailash retreat in Tibet. Nepal listed 54 Ukrainians among 636 missing foreign nationals and a toll of 1,451 dead and more than 6,000 missing overall. China reported 43 dead and 519 missing, including 261 foreigners from 23 countries and one Ukrainian. Only 112 of 1,451 recovered bodies had been returned to families; Nepal had collected DNA from 2,035 relatives. Kalynychenko was last recorded leaving a Chinese border post at 10:22 a.m. local time, 15 minutes before the flood. The group's last message went out at 8:27 a.m. Nepal time, about 10 minutes before a Himalayan ice-and-rock collapse sent water, ice, mud, and debris through the crossing. Oles Visich recalled her plan to drink tea made from Chinese flowers once home. Stanislav Solohub said families mainly see online tallies of found, living, dead, and missing. Horlova, after China said her mother had left its territory, asked who searches anyone caught between the posts after Nepal's immigration records were destroyed. Ukraine said DNA data are being transferred and preliminary criminal cases involve 49 individuals. Recovery and identification are expected to take months.