Kathmandu, August 28
At least 27 employees working at branches of seven banks near the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers in Rasuwa remain out of contact following the devastating Bhotekoshi flood.
The employees have been unreachable since the flood struck on Wednesday morning.
Santosh Koirala, president of the Nepal Bankers’ Association, said efforts to establish contact had continued but the employees had not been reached as of late Thursday.
“We are continuing our efforts from our side, but we have still been unable to establish contact,” Koirala said. “As of late Thursday, 27 employees working at branches of seven banks could not be contacted.”
He said nine bank branch offices in various locations have been completely damaged, including branches in Timure and Syafrubesi. The employees who remain out of contact are also from the affected areas, he said.
The highest number of missing employees are from Nepal Investment Mega Bank, with seven employees out of contact. Machhapuchchhre Bank has five, Sanima Bank two, Laxmi Sunrise Bank three, Himalayan Bank one, NMB Bank four and Prabhu Bank five employees who remain uncontactable.
Koirala said banks have not yet been able to assess the extent of physical damage to their branches because access to the affected areas remains difficult.
“We have not been able to assess the physical damage. We tried to do so on Thursday, but it was not possible,” he said, adding that the banks were still in the process of verifying the damage.
He said it was also too early to estimate financial losses, as banks have yet to determine whether the affected branches had lockers, how much cash was stored in their vaults and how much may have been swept away by the flood.
The Bhotekoshi flood has caused widespread destruction in Rasuwa, particularly around settlements and infrastructure along the river.
