Sri Lanka committed USD 1 million to Nepal’s flood relief effort on Thursday evening, hours after moving from expressions of sympathy to an offer of practical help. The death toll from the flash floods on the Nepal-Tibet border rose past 330 over the course of the same day.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said Sri Lanka stood ready to assist Nepal with rescue and clearance operations, in a message posted on X and reported by Ada Derana and the Daily Mirror.

“I am deeply saddened to learn of the tragic loss of life following the devastating floods in Nepal,” the President said. “As a nation still emerging from a deadly cyclone just 10 months ago, we share the grief of the Nepalese people.”

He conveyed condolences to President Ram Chandra Paudel, Prime Minister Balendra Shah and the people of Nepal.

Foreign ministers speak

Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath followed with a telephone conversation with his Nepalese counterpart, Shisir Khanal, Ada Derana reported. Herath said Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Centres would coordinate directly with Nepalese authorities to identify what specific assistance was required.

“Sri Lanka remains steadfast in its solidarity and commitment to our close friend and neighbour, Nepal,” he said in a post on X.

The call is the first concrete step beyond statements. Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that no Sri Lankan nationals were known to have been affected, but neither that statement nor Herath’s earlier solidarity message indicated whether Colombo would offer material help.

Ada Derana renders the Nepalese foreign minister’s name as Shisir Khanal in Thursday’s report and Shishir Khanal in its Wednesday filings.

Cross-party message

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa also expressed solidarity with Nepal, saying in a post on X that he was deeply distressed by the devastation. His thoughts were with the families of those killed, the hundreds still missing and the rescue teams “working against time,” Ada Derana reported.

Advisory for Sri Lankans in Nepal

The Sri Lankan Embassy in Kathmandu has issued a safety advisory to nationals in the country, according to Ada Derana and the Daily Mirror.

The advisory covers Sri Lankans in Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha and Chitwan districts and along the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river corridors. They have been urged to avoid rivers, riverbanks, bridges and low-lying areas, to follow instructions from local authorities, to check road conditions before travelling and not to attempt to cross flooded roads or streams. Those planning journeys to affected districts have been told to postpone them.

The Embassy is operating a 24-hour emergency hotline on +977 9851048653, with assistance also available by email at [email protected].

Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Kathmandu has previously estimated that 85 to 100 Sri Lankan nationals are currently in Nepal, including about 20 students who arrived recently.

A toll that moved all day

Nepali police put the death toll at 162 on Thursday morning, Ada Derana reported, citing the BBC. Of those, 64 were recovered in downstream areas of Chitwan district and another 26 in Nawalparasi East — leaving 72 of the confirmed dead found elsewhere, chiefly in Rasuwa, where the surge entered Nepal.

Twenty-eight police officers were among the hundreds still unaccounted for. Chitwan, a tourism centre known for its jungle safaris, is one of several municipalities placed on high alert as floodwaters move downstream.

The count then rose repeatedly through the day — to 270, then 289 at 14:30 local time, and to 332 by 15:50 local time, according to successive Nepal police updates carried by Ada Derana. The wider disaster is covered separately, including the US Geological Survey’s finding that a glacial collapse, not an earthquake, caused the flood.

Context

The President’s reference to a “deadly cyclone just 10 months ago” points to Cyclone Ditwah, after which Sri Lanka itself relied heavily on foreign assistance — including an Indian credit line, an ADB reconstruction package and a Chinese grant for bridge rebuilding. Recovery from that disaster is still under way.

Update: USD 1 million committed

Sri Lanka put a figure on its assistance on Thursday evening. President Dissanayake directed the government to provide a financial contribution of USD 1 million to support Nepal’s humanitarian and relief efforts, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism reported by Ada Derana and NewsFirst.

The money is intended for immediate relief and humanitarian assistance to communities hit by the floods and landslides. The statement said the government would remain closely engaged with Kathmandu and “continue to explore appropriate avenues” through which Sri Lanka can contribute to relief and recovery.

The commitment answers the question left open earlier in the day, when neither the President’s offer of rescue and clearance support nor Herath’s call with his counterpart indicated what material help Colombo would provide. It does not say whether personnel or relief supplies will be sent in addition to the cash.

The statement also dates the Herath–Khanal call to Thursday morning, and repeats the President’s condolences to the government and people of Nepal.

Sources