Guwahati: Nine residents of Assam linked to the devastating floods in Nepal have been confirmed safe, while authorities are continuing efforts to trace nine others who remain unaccounted for, officials said on Sunday.

The latest figure includes seven people whose safety has been confirmed by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), along with two others – Gautam Das and Gopal Debnath – whose safety was confirmed separately by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

The latest ASDMA list, dated August 30, contains 16 names of Assam residents who were reported missing or stranded in Nepal following the floods. Of these, seven – Soneswar Narzary, Pankaj Barman, Samar Bezbaruah, Dr Tirtha Chaliha, Silva Marak, Sarbison Marak and Elipson Sangma – have been confirmed safe, an ASDMA official said.

The remaining nine – Rhituopurno Brahma, Montri Basumatary, Rahul Daimary, Shatadal Nath, Pankaj Naug, Arun Mahanta, Dr Dipali Sarkar, Manash Kr Ghosh and Birson Sangma – have not yet been traced or their safety confirmed. The two additional names, Das and Debnath, were confirmed after Sarma said in a social media post that he had spoken to eight Assam residents who had been rescued following the floods.

While six of those named by the Chief Minister are included in the ASDMA list, Das and Debnath do not figure in the authority’s latest compilation. “The two names, Gautam Das and Gopal Debnath, are not in our list. Maybe the Chief Minister has independently contacted them,” the ASDMA official said.

Sarma had said the eight rescued residents were safe and were expected to return to Assam on Sunday. He also thanked Varun Chaudhary, Executive Director of CG Corp Global, for helping facilitate the rescue operation. The Assam government had opened a dedicated help desk at Assam Bhawan on August 25 to assist families seeking information about relatives who may have been affected by the disaster.

An Assam Bhawan official said information received from families was being forwarded to ASDMA, which coordinates with district authorities to verify and compile the details before sharing them with the Ministry of External Affairs and other agencies involved in the rescue and repatriation efforts.

“We get calls from people informing us about missing people and provide these details to the ASDMA. They then coordinate with the district authorities, compile the information and share it with the Ministry of External Affairs and with us,” the official said. The efforts to trace the missing residents come amid the devastating impact of the floods in Nepal. The disaster has claimed hundreds of lives and left thousands of people unaccounted for, while rescue and relief operations continue in the affected areas.

Assam authorities said they were maintaining coordination with Central agencies and officials in Nepal to establish the whereabouts of those still untraced and facilitate the return of residents who have been rescued.