Rasuwa, Nepal: Families of Americans missing after devastating floods in Nepal have appealed to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for an expanded rescue operation, seeking helicopters, drones, satellite imagery and specialised search teams to help locate their relatives.

The missing people include citizens of the United States, Australia, Canada, Britain, Singapore, France and South Africa. Many of those listed are of Indian origin.

According to the families, the US State Department told them that 90 Americans remained unaccounted for, while five had been rescued after flash floods swept through Nepal’s Rasuwa district on August 26.

Many of the missing travellers were reportedly travelling to or from Mount Kailash, the sacred pilgrimage site in Tibet, along a route through Nepal that crosses the Chinese border at Gyirong.

In a letter dated August 29, the families appealed directly to Rubio, saying: “We are Americans, and we are asking our government to rescue our family members now.”

The letter was signed by relatives and friends of 57 missing people, including 31 Americans and 26 people of other nationalities.

The families said their relatives had been travelling alongside pilgrims, guides and workers from India and several other countries when floods struck the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli valleys.

While thanking the US Embassy in Kathmandu, as well as Nepali soldiers and pilots involved in rescue operations, the families said they believed the scale of the American response had not matched the situation.

“We do not doubt the good faith of the people working on this,” they wrote, adding that “the urgency of the response has not matched what 90 missing Americans require.”

The families have asked Washington to formally offer Nepal US military helicopters capable of operating at high altitude, along with crews, fuel and ground support.

They also requested drones equipped with thermal and infrared cameras, technology capable of detecting people trapped beneath debris, equipment to locate mobile phones and temporary cellular coverage across the affected valley.

Another major request involves US satellite surveillance of the corridor stretching from Rasuwagadhi to Trishuli Bazar and Devighat, including radar imagery that could help search teams operate despite cloud cover.

The families have also urged the United States to move an urban search-and-rescue team to Kathmandu so it can be deployed immediately if Nepal accepts the assistance.

They further called for stronger consular support, including a dedicated liaison for each affected family, US consular officers at hospitals treating survivors and officials positioned closer to the rescue operation in Rasuwa.

According to the letter, some missing travellers were last known to be on the Gyirong side of the Nepal-China border. The families have therefore asked Washington to seek information and consular access from China and coordinate rescue efforts with other governments.

They specifically called for coordination with Australia, the United Kingdom, India and Singapore, whose citizens were travelling in the same tour groups as some of the missing people.

The American citizens listed as missing include residents of Illinois, Virginia, Texas, New York, New Jersey, California, Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Massachusetts, Maryland, Tennessee and Ohio.