Chinese tourist drowns in Nepal river: police

A Chinese tourist drowned while swimming in a river in western Nepal, local police said today, as they discovered his body 17 days after the accident occurred.

The 27-year-old man was on a rafting trip down Nepal's Kali Gandaki river with four other tourists and they had camped on the banks before deciding to go for a swim on 22 February, police said.

"He was swept away by the river and did not have a life jacket on," said assistant sub-inspector, Padam Bahadur Khatri Chettri.

"A local fisherman alerted us about the body. It was found about one kilometre (half a mile) from his camping site," Chettri told AFP, adding that an autopsy was in process.
 

The snow-fed waters of Kali Gandaki make it one of Nepal's top rafting destinations, attracting thousands of thrill-seekers keen to experience its rapids, waterfalls and mountain views.

More than 500,000 tourists visit Nepal every year and tourism ranks as a major contributor to the economy of the impoverished Himalayan nation.