Specialist teams deploy 3D mapping and drones along the Trishuli River basin, taking total individuals located to 18 as emergency gear is handed to local responders.
KATHMANDU, Sept 12, 2026 : The UAE Search and Rescue Team has located 10 more people reported missing in Nepal’s flood-ravaged northern belt, raising the total number of individuals traced by the contingent to 18, relief officials confirmed on Saturday.
Ground personnel operating in close coordination with Nepalese disaster management authorities centered their latest sweeps on Rasuwa district and surrounding banks of the Trishuli River, where severe flooding and rain-induced mudslides have cut off remote communities.
Responders deployed unmanned aerial vehicles, thermal sensors, and three-dimensional terrain mapping to scan debris fields and unstable riverbanks that remain largely inaccessible by standard transport. The high-resolution topological scans allow field coordinators to isolate priority coordinates and direct specialized teams directly into hazardous zones without risking further casualties.
The breakthrough on the ground aligned with the arrival of a fifth UAE relief transport aircraft in Kathmandu. The cargo flight delivered critical operational equipment intended directly for Nepalese first-responder units.
The delivered consignment includes motorized rescue boats, technical drones, heavy-duty generators, and specialized hydraulic extraction tools. Nepalese emergency services will integrate the supplies into their forward command points to sustain search runs across high-risk corridors.
Hammoud Al Afari, Director of UAE Relief Operations, said field deployments remain strictly aligned with dynamic tasking matrices provided by Nepalese disaster authorities.
“Search and rescue operations are proceeding in direct accordance with field priorities and real-time operational data,” Al Afari said. “Supplying these specialized tools and technical gear directly to Nepalese teams ensures local units maintain the independent capability required to penetrate cut-off terrain over the coming weeks.”
The Trishuli basin has sustained extensive infrastructure washouts, with debris flows complicating emergency transit toward Rasuwa. Joint operations between the UAE technical contingent and Nepalese army and armed police units are expected to continue along downstream river corridors over the coming days as weather windows permit.
