Canada and Britain have announced millions of dollars in emergency assistance for Nepal following catastrophic flooding that has left at least 579 people dead.
Ottawa will release five million Canadian dollars, equal to 3.1 million euros, to help fund search and rescue operations across the impacted areas.
At the same time, the United Kingdom is sending a specialised crisis response team to Kathmandu to assist British citizens and help coordinate international relief efforts.
Canadian humanitarian response
Canadian Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development Randeep Sarai announced the funding package during a news conference on Friday.
Sarai stated that Canada would provide five million dollars in humanitarian assistance to support rescue teams working across the affected regions.
Nepal, a landlocked Himalayan nation, is highly susceptible to severe seasonal weather and flash flooding during monsoon months, often requiring rapid international aid to support local emergency infrastructure.
British crisis deployment
The United Kingdom announced it was dispatching a Rapid Deployment Team to Nepal to support British citizens and their families affected by the disaster.
The team is scheduled to arrive in Kathmandu on Saturday to work directly with the British embassy and local authorities to provide consular assistance.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband stated that the images from Nepal were shocking and that thoughts remained with all those affected by the destruction.
Miliband emphasized that the safety of British nationals was the government's highest priority, explaining that extra personnel were being deployed to deliver on-the-ground support at an incredibly difficult time.
He added that official staff were working closely with Nepalese authorities, emergency services, and the embassy in Kathmandu to ensure victims receive necessary help and information.
Search efforts in Rasuwa
The specialized crisis response team forms part of a wider response from London, which includes five million pounds sterling in humanitarian funding for relief and long-term recovery.
The money will support national relief operations in Nepal as well as coordinated interventions by the United Nations, the Red Cross, and various non-governmental organisations.
More than 30 British citizens are among hundreds of missing people feared dead following the disaster, with active search efforts taking place in the Rasuwa district bordering Tibet.
Emergency rescue teams are searching for dozens of missing British nationals amid ongoing concerns that further flooding could sweep through the devastated territory.
Rasuwa district is a mountainous northern border zone adjacent to the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, where rugged terrain and river valleys present severe logistical challenges for emergency rescue workers.
