Families rush to Nepal as search continues for 33 missing British nationals after deadly floods

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 had 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 that had formed by debris blocking a river at the 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 Neetu Goyal Tiwari, 51. Her brother Naresh Goyal told the BBC that completing the pilgrimage was “her dream”.

Neetu’s nephew, Anmol Goyal, told the Guardian she had been travelling with a friend, and that her last known location was at the immigration centre on the Tibet-Nepal border. He said she had been added to the Nepalese government’s official list of missing persons.

The family have been desperately phoning contacts in Nepal in an attempt to find her, though they increasingly believe her to still be in China. As many of them are based in India, it is difficult for them to obtain visas to search for her. Goyal said her husband and daughter remained in the UK for now.

“We’re not sure what the next second holds and what we should do from our end, because we’re trying to reach everyone we can,” he said. “She was a very fun-loving woman [and] really had a great heart. I really hope she comes back soon.”

The Telegraph reported that NHS psychiatrist Pravin Atmakur, 54, was leading a group of 77 pilgrims on Isha Foundation’s journey to Mount Kailash. The group’s last known location was an immigration centre in Timure, in the mudslide’s direct path.

His wife, Manjula Atmakur, who arrived in Kathmandu to search for him on Friday, told the newspaper she was disappointed by the British government’s response to the disaster.

Fishtail Tours and Travels confirmed Leena Bector, 53, from Slough, was among 27 travellers in its group who were unaccounted for.

Her husband, Bhupesh Bector, told the Times he was booking the next flight to Kathmandu after the Home Office had failed to confirm whether Leena was on its missing persons list. “Even if they find her today or tomorrow, I need to be there,” he said. “She must be in trauma.”

Also missing are an A-level student from Surrey, Spandan Sahu, 18, and his father, Santosh Sahu, 46, the chief executive of the UK pharmaceutical technology company Charac, his mother, Surabhi Manmath Padhy, 44, and sister Syna Kumari Sahu, 13.

Also confirmed missing is Sarada Simkhada, a senior nurse from Dartford, Kent, who left for Nepal last Saturday on a religious journey.

Deepesh Patel told the Press Association that his parents, Bipin Patel, 66, and Mala Patel, 60, from Coventry, were missing after flying to Nepal on 22 August for a pilgrimage. His brother Anant Patel, told Sky News he was “shocked” at the lack of information on their whereabouts.

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.

“We’re not sure what to do. 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.

The tour operator Alpine Eco Trek said it had been unable to make contact with a party of 12 Britons aged 13 to 65 who had booked a tour to Mount Kailash in Tibet, and were in the vicinity when the flash floods hit.

Sunil Amin, from Croydon in south London, shared with the Daily Mail the “horrible, horrible feeling” of repeatedly trying to phone his wife, Hema Amin, 63, who was on a pilgrimage with Alpine Eco Trek from Nepal to Tibet with her sister. “I’m devastated,” he said.

The Trekkers’ Society, which organises tours across Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan, said nine UK nationals on a pilgrimage had gone missing. The organisation confirmed that four males, aged between 14 and 50, and five females aged 40 to 53 were unaccounted for.

Himalayan Glacier US said it had lost contact with a group of 47 guests and staff, including two Britons, who were also on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, regarded as the spiritual home of the Hindu god Shiva.

The tour operator Kailash Journeys confirmed it had not been able to account for seven UK nationals – five women and two men aged between 18 and 55 – who were travelling with it.

Leaf Holidays, which runs Himalayan treks and expeditions from Kathmandu, wrote in a Facebook post that its group of 55 travellers remained missing, including four British citizens, Tara and Babar Gurung and Thaneswar and Tejkumari Gurung, who have not been heard from since Tuesday.

Twelve of the missing British citizens were on a tour to Mount Kailash led by Nabhi Nandan Das, a 64-year-old Hindu priest who works at the Sanatan Mandir and community centre in Surrey, the Telegraph reported. He is understood to have been leading 11 Britons on a tour that was due to visit Kailash and Lake Mansarovar, two Hindu holy sites in Tibet.

Pramod Poudel, who runs a Nepalese street food company in Sussex, told the Daily Mail his wife, Sumitra, mother, Tulisa, brother Pradip and uncle Madav were all missing. His father, Purusottam, has been found alive.

The Non-Resident Nepali Association in the UK launched an emergency fundraising appeal on Thursday and more than £12,000 has been raised.

Rajendra Pudasaini, a nurse in Essex who is president of the Non-Resident Nepali Association UK, said Nepal was witnessing an “irreplaceable loss” and Nepal was “paying the price for global warming”.

Pudasaini told BBC Radio 4 Today’s programme that many of his family members were missing. “My godson, we found the body yesterday morning, you know, he (was) just buried under the mud at his house, and yes, lots of other dead bodies being found.”

He added: “It’s a very difficult situation to describe, actually.”