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Tamil Nadu, Bengal pilgrims among 133 Indians unaccounted for in Nepal floods
Isha Foundation head Sadguru said 77 people from the foundation were at the Chinese government’s immigration centre at Gyirong in Tibet when a mudslide struck.
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Most of the 133 Indians feared missing in the Nepal flash floods are believed to be tourists on pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet, Nepal tourism officials said.
Among those who have not made contact include a group of 77 from the Isha Foundation, a batch of 38 pilgrims from Tamil Nadu and 32 from Kolkata, the foundation and tour operators said. The missing also included Indian diaspora on pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, said Sunil Sharma, Nepal Tourism Board spokesperson. Track live Nepal floods updates here
Pilgrims, tourists missing
Pilgrims heading for Mount Kailash, a sacred site for Hindus, sometimes opt for an alternative route through Kathmandu, which requires less trekking compared to the main route through Dharchula in Uttarakhand.
Deep Dive
Officials in Nepal said 403 people, including 341 foreign nationals, were reported missing.
Bhasu Kumar Adhikari, managing director of Kathamandu based Touch Kailash Tour and Travels said 390 pilgrims including 93 Nepalis were scheduled to cross the border on Wednesday morning, according to the Kathmandu Post. “Except a few, we have not been able to contact the pilgrims,” he said.
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Sharma said that among other missing were 47 from the United States, 34 from Australia, 33 from the Britain and 24 from Canada, he said, adding that people from at least 26 countries had been present in the affected area. So far, Nepalese authorities have confirmed 160 deaths.
In a video, Isha Foundation head Sadguru said 77 people from the foundation were at the Chinese government’s immigration centre at Gyirong in Tibet and three volunteers were at Timure in Nepal when a mudslide struck. “We are trying to get information about them,” he said.
He said 21 groups were part of the Kailash Mansarover Yatra through Nepal, of which 495 have returned, 743 are in Tibet and 148 in Nepal. He did not provide details of from where, Indian states or foreign nations, the missing pilgrims came.
Tamil Nadu tourists' buses caught in floodwaters
Among those missing were 36 persons from different districts of Tamil Nadu. The owner of travel operator Samrat Tours and Travels, Syed Umar Farooq, said 57 people from different districts went for the Kailash Yatra.
On Wednesday morning, they were travelling in three buses. “Around 9am after a sound like an explosion, one bus managed to escape the sudden flash flood but when (passengers) turned back to see other vehicles, one bus was seen rolling down into a gorge,” Farooq told reporters.
“It’s unclear what happened next. Authorities are currently searching for the bus with military support,” he said. He added that 21 people travelling in the bus that escaped are at the Armed Police Force outpost in Timure about 160km north of Kathmandu.
The condition of the remaining people in the other two buses, including his son, is not known, he said. “We hope they are safe”, he said.
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The Tamil Nadu government has started an around-the-clock helpline for the families of the pilgrims and assistance is also being provided through Tamil Nadu House in New Delhi.
In a statement, chief minister C Joseph Vijay said he has instructed senior state government officials in Delhi to take all the necessary measures to swiftly rescue the stranded pilgrims and provide assistance to the families of those missing.
Keralam government steps in
According to the Keralam government, a group of 36 people touring Nepal is safe and away from the areas affected by the devastating flash floods. The state government has opened a helpdesk through a state-run agency to provide emergency assistance to Malayalis affected by the flash floods in Nepal, Chief Minister V D Satheesan said. The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority urged people to report details of Malayalis suspected to have been affected by the flash floods through its toll-free number 1070.
A 32-member team of tourists from Kolkata had left Kolkata on August 21. They were all pilgrims travelling to Kailash-Manasarovar. The team reached Kathmandu on August 22.
“We have lost contact with them after the flood. There were 30 tourists and two of our staff. They were supposed to enter Tibet today. We have been trying to contact them since morning,” Dibyajyoti Basu, founder of Cholo Jai, a travel agency in Kolkata, told HT.
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Mumbai mountaineer and doctor Dr Milind P Chitlay, co-founder of Hills and Trails, is among those who could not be contacted.
His close associates and members of the trekking community in Mumbai said they have not been able to establish contact with him or get confirmation about his safety.
(With inputs from agencies)
