Chinese ambassador to Nepal Zheng Xianglin handed over US$50,000 of flood emergency relief to Nepal on Friday.

On behalf of the Red Cross Society of China, Ambassador Zheng Xianglin handed over the amount to the Red Cross Society of Nepal in Kathmandu.

Dev Ratna Dhakwa, Secretary General of the Red Cross Society of Nepal appreciated the aid provided by the Red Cross Society of China, and introduced the situation of the flood occurring in southern Nepal.

Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" said China giving a hand when Nepal is in need fully reflects the traditional friendship between the two countries.

Prime Minister Prachanda, on behalf of the government, on Thursday called on all the friendly countries and other international community to provide necessary cooperation in flood relief.

In the public appeal, the Prime Minister said the Nepali government was quite aggrieved from the misfortune and the painful situation created by full inundation of three Village Development Committees (VDCs) including Sripur, Haripur and Kusaha and four other VDCs partially submerged in Sunsari district, some 220 km southeast of Kathmandu, after the embankment of Saptakoshi River suddenly broke down, affecting more than 50,000 people while displacing thousands.

The appeal states that the terrific flood after the breaking of the embankment has swept away about 1,000 houses and crops in vast range of land, and thousands of houses have been affected besides the damage of many bridges and three km of the East-West highway, and at the same time drinking water supply and telephone lines were disrupted.

(Xinhua News Agency August 23, 2008)