Nepal says post-flood reconstruction could reach billions of dollars

Nepal’s reconstruction bill after devastating floods could run into “billions of dollars,” Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal says, as authorities grapple with the scale of the destruction, TodayPress TV reports.

“The reconstruction and rehabilitation would entail perhaps billions of dollars,” he tells reporters in Kathmandu.

“We will do loss and damage research and then we plan, but I am reaching out to our international community for support.”

Three days after the disaster, Khanal says “the urgency is on rescue and saving lives as much as we can,” but the scale of the disaster is already stretching the government’s capacity.

Rescue teams have retrieved 626 bodies, and more than 2,426 people are still missing in Nepal.