Families of those missing in Nepal floods hold on ‘hoping for a miracle’
Nepal resident Asmita Dahal is also waiting for her brother to return. Photo: Reuters
Many people have lost contact with their relatives following the devastating floods along the Nepal China border. They have been living in anxiety ever since. Some are waiting for their loved ones to return. Others are simply hoping for good news.
New Zealand citizen Rajiv Reddy has not heard from his sister since last Tuesday. That day she told him that she was going hiking with friends along the Nepal China border.
Rajiv’s 44-year-old sister Suhasini Reddy was scheduled to travel by road to the border at Kandimalla on Wednesday morning. She had an immigration related appointment there. She then planned to travel to the Outer Kora Trail in Tibet.
On Thursday, the organizers of the trip contacted the families and said they had been unable to contact any of the 31 people in the group.
Suhasini is a mother of two children. Her children are 4 and 16 years old. She regularly went hiking. She also had plans to take several more trips after returning to New Zealand. She wanted to climb Mount Everest next year.
Rajiv said everyone in the family was contacting relatives and acquaintances in Nepal. They were trying in every possible way to get news about his sister.
“We hope we will get her back very soon,” Rajiv told himself reassuringly.
Nepal resident Asmita Dahal is also waiting for her brother to return. According to her, the family is now “hoping for a miracle.”
Twenty-one-year-old Suman Dahal last spoke to his sister on Wednesday. He told her, “See you in the morning.”
He had finished working with a tour group at Sonam Guest House in Timure, a border town in Rasuwa district. The group left that night to cross the border into China. Suman stayed behind to prepare to return to Kathmandu. There has been no news of him since then.
Asmita said Suman’s phone number is switched off. She said, “We do not know where he is. We are afraid that his bus may have been swept away by the flood. We are very worried. Still, we are hoping for a miracle.”
Kathmandu based tourism company Kailash Journeys said 26 foreign tourists and five Nepali guides traveling with them are missing in the floods.
Sujan Wasti, head of the company’s Nepal operations, said the group was traveling toward the Nepal China border through the Rasuwagadhi border point. On the way, sudden floodwaters inundated various villages and towns.
Among the missing foreigners were eight Americans, seven British citizens, six Australians, one New Zealander, two Canadians, one South African and one Malaysian citizen. There were 13 men and 13 women among the foreign nationals.
US citizen Radhika Sharma said she is going through the most difficult time of her life while waiting for news of her missing parents in Nepal.
Her father Ramesh Sharma is 65 years old. Her mother Neelam Sharma is 64. They had traveled to Nepal on a religious pilgrimage. They were part of a seven member group arranged through a tourism company called Nepal Trekking Planners.
The Himalayan regions of Nepal and Tibet are also popular destinations for religious pilgrimages because they are home to several important Buddhist and Hindu pilgrimage sites.
Radhika said the last contact with the group was at around 8am on Wednesday. At that time they had reached the Tibetan border. No news of them has been received since.
“All I know is that wherever they are, they are probably scared,” Radhika said. She said her parents must also be worried about their two children. And the children now have no option but to wait.
According to Nepalese officials, more than 300 foreign nationals remain unaccounted for following the floods. At least 47 of them are American citizens.
Earlier, on Wednesday morning, local residents were busy with their daily activities when a gigantic wall of water about 100 meters high surged down from upstream. Although an earthquake was initially blamed for the flood, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said glacial collapse and landslides were responsible.
The devastating floods caused extensive damage in various parts of Nepal and Tibet. Following the incident, ICIMOD released a detailed assessment report. It said the death toll had risen to 162. Another 403 people remain missing. Authorities said most of the 341 missing foreign nationals are Indian citizens.
A high alert has been issued in several municipalities including Chitwan, a popular tourist destination for jungle safaris, as floodwaters continue to rise. Nearly eight tons of relief supplies have been sent to the flood affected areas. The United States, China, the European Union and India have pledged assistance.
Meanwhile, China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported Thursday morning that the number of people missing after a mudslide in Gyirong County in Tibet had risen to 558.
Among the missing are 260 foreign nationals. The broadcaster said the death toll remains at three so far. The Gyirong border crossing is a major entry point for tourists and cargo transportation between China and Nepal.
