Fears grow for 85 Americans missing after Nepal flash floods

Fears are growing for the 85 Americans who are among the 4,200 people still missing after being caught up in the devastating flash flooding that rocked Nepal last week.

The State Department said Sunday that nine U.S. citizens had been evacuated from the Himalayan country following Wednesday’s devastating glacier collapse near the Nepal-China border, which caused a landslide that led the Lende Khola River to overflow, razing villages and leaving more than 900 dead.

Many more Americans are still unaccounted for, however, most of whom had arrived in the mountain region as tourists on a spiritual pilgrimage.

The visitors had arrived to see Mount Kailash, a sacred site to Hindus and Tibetan Buddhists, who, respectively, believe it to be the home of the god Shiva and the center of the universe, granting enlightenment to those who scale it.

Among the missing Americans is Jitendra Patel, 72, an Uber driver from Long Island, New York, who was with a tour group on a Hindu pilgrimage to the mountain, his son Sunny Patel told the Associated Press.

The younger Patel last heard from his father via WhatsApp Wednesday but believes he was in the exact area hit by the flooding.

“My heart sank,” Sunny said, adding that he “didn’t think it was possible that my dad would be there at ground zero.”

Of the agonizing wait for updates, he said: “It gets worse by every hour, obviously.”

Also missing is Venus Rajnikant Patel, 45, of Cincinnati, Ohio, who was also on a guided tour in the region and whose friend, Jolene Gosha, likewise told the AP he had been staying in a border hotel within the vicinity hit by floodwaters.

“We’re just hoping, hoping that by some chance he was able to climb his way out of it,” she said. “I don’t want to give myself false hope because I know the reality is that he’s probably not with us.”

Other relatives of missing people have expressed similar feelings of dread and helplessness, including Shekhar Agrawal, who told CNN he is waiting for news of his sister Rekha Shashidharan and her 14-year-old daughter, Rashi, who, when last heard from, were en route to an immigration checkpoint.

“After that, there was radio silence, nothing, no contact whatsoever,” Agrawal said.

“We are hoping for the best because these kinds of things have happened earlier also, and we have seen cases where people have walked [out] after three days, four days, five days... Right now, the only thing that you can do is be hopeful.”

Shreya Ahuja told NPR she has been desperately trying to reach her parents, Texas business owners Deepak and Madju Ahuja, who had taken part in the pilgrimage to mark her father’s 60th birthday.

“I tried texting them; I tried calling them,” she said. “And initially I wasn’t too concerned. I feel like everyone thinks: ‘What are the chances that they were in that exact spot?’”

Specialist tour company Himalayan Glacier and the Tennessee spiritual organization the Isha Foundation have reported eight and 22 Americans missing from their groups respectively.

Among those unaccounted for among the foundation’s touring party are Georgia grandmother Mary Sorenson, Virginian Anil Goel, Californian father Prabhath Sajeepa and V.S. “Bali” Balasubramanyam, who recently relocated to India from New Jersey, according to The Washington Post.

Sorenson’s son, Riley Wilderson, told the newspaper: “We hope and pray and believe in a God of miracles. If people are being saved, there's always hope that she can be as well.”

President Donald Trump said in response to the disaster that his administration had been in touch with Nepal and offered to assist with “anything they want.”

State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott told ABC News’s This Week Sunday: “We have activated $3.6 million in emergency humanitarian assistance that includes up to three months of emergency food for up to 10,000 flood-affected households.”

The first deliveries of U.S. aid arrived over the weekend, according to the country’s Nepalese embassy, and included 500 blankets, 500 mosquito nets, 500 insulating foam sheets for shelter floors and nearly three tons of food.

“Our priority is the safety and security of the American people,” Pigott said. “The remoteness of this location makes getting reliable information difficult. But our dedication remains.

“Our embassies in Beijing and Kathmandu are working 24/7 to communicate and coordinate with local officials, trying to get reliable information.”

He advised Americans still in the region to register for the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program to ensure they can be contacted.