Father walks dozens of kilometers looking for his 19-year-old son who went missing after the Nepal floods

Borrowing $13 as a toll, Mr. Talka Sada walked dozens of kilometers to find his 19-year-old son, who was missing after a flash flood on August 26 in the bakar region of Nepal.

Mr. Sada, 50 years old, from Saptari, lost contact with his son Vinod when floods on August 26 swept through the bakar region of Nepal, destroying many houses and bridges.

Mr. Sada said he last spoke to his son on August 25. A month ago, Vinod came to Rasuwa district to work as a worker at a hydroelectric plant. The whereabouts of the four young men accompanying Vinod are currently unknown. "My wife fainted at home crying, and I myself was in immense pain," Mr. Sada said.

Wearing an orange plastic bag as a raincoat, Mr. Sada carried a gray backpack on his shoulder, accompanying his younger brother on a long trip to find relatives. The amount of 2,000 rupees (about 13 USD) he borrowed was for all travel expenses. "For every 100 rupees I borrow, I pay 20 rupees in interest," he said.

The two brothers deducted part of the money to take the bus from Saptari to the capital Kathmandu. The 292 km journey takes 9 hours due to mountainous terrain. Arriving in Kathmandu, they went to the hospitals to review the list of survivors and dead victims transported by air by rescue forces, but there was no information about Vinod.

Mr. Sada continued walking towards Nuwakot, nearly 60 km from Kathmandu, near the hydroelectric plant where his son worked. Through damaged roads, they stopped at the Trishuli market, now flooded with mud. "The motel charges 1,500 rupees for a night with a small bowl of rice. If we stay any longer, we will definitely run out of money," he said.

Mr. Sada called his son many times but no one answered. "Everyone at home was very sad, I diligently searched all the hydroelectric plants in the hope of bringing my child home," he said.

At one point, the father expected a miracle. He said his son worked as a porter, reacted very quickly, and must have escaped to a safe place. But his voice then dropped: "Vinod must have called from somewhere if he was still alive."

Even though the borrowed money was about to run out and his feet were blistered from walking for many days, Mr. Sada and his younger brother continued walking towards the hydroelectric plant.

CNN (USA) television channel quoted data from the Nepal National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Agency (NDRMA) confirming that the disaster on August 26 left at least 1,114 people dead and nearly 4,500 people missing. In other areas, hundreds of workers are still trapped underground at hydroelectric plants. Continuous rain, collapsed bridges and thick layers of mud are hindering rescue work.