Foreign Ministry: Maldivian students in Nepal are safe

All Maldivian students residing in Nepalese city of Biratnagar – affected by flooding due to torrential rain – are safe, reports Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Maldives.

Flooding affected the apartment complex in Biratnagar where 33 Maldivian students reside, damaging some of their property. The weather is reportedly still bad in the area.

“The weather still hasn’t cleared up. The weather cleared up a bit last night after heavy rain throughout the day. But the weather has reportedly worsened again,” said an official from Ministry of Foreign Affairs this Sunday.

“We the Ministry, along with the Honorary Council of Maldives in Nepal are closely monitoring the status of the Maldivian students. We are providing them assistance. All of them are safe.”

The official said there wasn’t any new information to disclose at the moment, and that additional information would be disclosed as the situation develops.

“All of them share one apartment. The students are now living in the upper floors as the ground floor is flooded,” said the official.

A family member of a Maldivian medical student in Nepal reported to “Sun” that the student informed the family of the flooding at approximately 9:30 pm on Saturday, Male’ time.

The family member said flood water had reached halfway up the first floor of the hostel where the student lived.

“The student lives on the fourth floor. The 15 Maldivian students living on the ground floor and second floor have been shifted to the upper floors.”

Nepalese newspapers report 36 people have died due to landslides as a result of the ongoing torrential rain.

Most of the houses in Morang district of Nepal – one of the worse affected areas – is submerged under water. Flooding has also affected the Biratnagar Airport.