Families are rushing to Nepal to search for the 33 British nationals who are still missing, as fears mount over the risk of a second wave of flooding in the region. The catastrophic flash floods that hit Nepal and Tibet on Wednesday, thundering down valleys and sweeping away entire villages, have killed at least 538 people, while more than 1,500 remain missing. Among them are hundreds of foreign tourists who were visiting the mountainous region, which is popular with trekkers and pilgrims for its natural beauty and religious significance.
Relatives of missing Britons have shared their devastation as they desperately try to reach their loved ones who were last seen in the Rasuwa district, where power and communication lines are down. Many are scrambling to book flights to Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital. On Friday, authorities in Nepal and China issued warnings about the risk of a second wave of flooding.
Chinese authorities said an artificial lake formed after a mudslide hit the Tibet-Nepal border, which risked “sending flood waters downstream”, according to state media. Nepal’s disaster authority said a lake formed by debris blocking a river at the flood site was also rising and at risk of bursting. Rescuers were forced to suspend their search for survivors, while residents who had returned to Rasuwa were told to evacuate their homes, with many seen fleeing up the hillsides to escape a possible surge in the river.
In a video on YouTube, Jaggi Vasudev, known as Sadhguru, a spiritual leader who founded the nonprofit Isha Foundation, told followers at the foundation’s camp at Saga in Tibet, China, that 80 members of an Isha group returning from Kailash Mansarovar, a high-altitude site in Tibet revered by Hindus and Buddhists, were missing, including nine British people. Among them is understood to be Neetu Goyal Tiwari, 51. Her brother Naresh Goyal told the BBC that completing the pilgrimage was “her dream”.
Fishtail Tours and Travels has confirmed Leena Bector, 53, from Slough, was among 27 travellers in its group who remain unaccounted for. Her husband, Bhupesh Bector, told the Times he was booking the next flight to Kathmandu after the Home Office failed to confirm whether Leena was on its missing persons list. Vikram Kolagatla, from London, told the BBC he had not heard from his wife, Geetha Reddy.
Reddy, who has two daughters aged 12 and 14, had been in Hotel Kailash in Rasuwagadh when the flooding hit. I have two little girls, and their schools are starting next week,” Kolagatla added. Tatjana Phillips, from Folkestone in Kent, told the BBC she had not been able to contact her sister, Julija Jakovicka, who was attending a yoga and meditation retreat near the Nepal-Tibet border when flash flooding hit.
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