17,000 children need urgent aid after Nepal floods: UNICEF

UNICEF has launched an urgent humanitarian appeal, warning that at least 17,000 children are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance while 18 schools have been destroyed and another 20 damaged.

Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said that the number of missing people has doubled to just under 2,000.

The authority said 14,829 security personnel have been mobilised for search and rescue operations, which includes using drones to search for survivors in areas dangerous to access.

The International Committe of the Red Cross estimates that at least 93,000 people have been affected by the floods , while humanitarian aid has begun reaching some survivors who sought refuge in temporary shelters.

In Nuwakot, one of the flood areas closest to Kathmandu, entire villages were swept away in a matter of minutes, leaving behind layers of mud and sediment.