There are no reports of Thai nationals being injured, killed or missing following devastating flash floods and landslides in Nepal, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A Thai engineering expert, meanwhile, has suggested the disaster may have involved more than an ordinary flash flood.
The disaster struck areas along the Bhote Koshi River in Nepal’s Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha and Chitwan districts on Wednesday. The latest reports said more than 300 bodies had been recovered in Nepal, with hundreds of others still missing.
‘So far, there have been no reports of Thai nationals being injured or killed in the incident,’ ministry spokeswoman Jaithai Upakarnitikaset said on Thursday.
Thai citizens affected by the disaster or requiring assistance can contact the Thai Embassy in Kathmandu on its 24-hour emergency hotline at +977-9818749944.
Meanwhile, Amorn Pimanmas, president of the Structural Engineers Association of Thailand and an engineering lecturer at Kasetsart University, said the scale and characteristics of the Nepal-Tibet disaster raised questions about whether it was simply a conventional flash flood.
In a social media post, he said there were reportedly no heavy rains in the affected area at the time of the disaster.
Given the steep mountainous terrain, a possible explanation could involve the collapse of a large mass of glacial ice and rock, which may have blocked a waterway and formed a temporary natural dam.
If such a dam later failed under mounting water pressure, it could have released a huge volume of water mixed with rocks, ice, trees and other debris, creating a destructive force capable of severely damaging buildings and infrastructure.
The rapid rise of water levels also resembled a dam-break event, he said.
Mr Amorn added that a magnitude 4.4 earthquake had reportedly occurred nearby, although the US Geological Survey has since said that the seismic activity was caused by the ice and rock collapse.