Kochi, A 20-minute delay at a Buddha temple have saved their lives a realisation that brought tears and a sense of disbelief to a 31-member group of Keralites who returned safely to the state on Sunday after being stranded in flash flood-hit Nepal.
The group, which included women, infants and elderly persons, arrived at the international airport here, where emotional scenes unfolded as the travellers were reunited with their anxious family members.
Members of the group recalled the miraculous escape they had because of a delay at a Buddha temple and how they spent the terrifying night that followed the disaster, wherein they had to walk in search of a safe place without proper food or opportunity to attend to basic needs.
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All this after they themselves witnessed furious floods sweeping through the buildings within seconds, around 600 feet below.
The travellers said they were on their way from Kathmandu to Pokhara when the flash floods struck the Himalayan country.
"Around 20-25 minutes we spent at a Buddha temple at the request of the women in our group helped save us from the tragedy," one of the men said.
"But for the delay, we would have been crossing the bridge and road when they were completely washed away," he said, recalling the narrow escape.
{{/usCountry}}"But for the delay, we would have been crossing the bridge and road when they were completely washed away," he said, recalling the narrow escape.
{{/usCountry}}Another member of the group said police stopped them while they were travelling from Kathmandu to Pokhara.
"The police blocked us on the way. When we looked down, we saw people running around 600 feet below. A huge surge of water came and swept away all the buildings there. Within seconds, the entire place looked like a plain ground," he recalled.
For another woman in the group, the ordeal continued through a long and difficult night.
"We travelled through a tough route throughout the night to reach a safe place. We could not even attend to our basic needs or have proper food. We had to spend the whole night like that," she said, visibly shaken by the experience.
"But when we later came to know that so many people had died, we felt that our difficulties were nothing compared to what others had suffered," she added.
Many of the travellers broke down in tears when they finally met their family members at the airport, bringing an emotional end to their ordeal.
The group returned to Kerala a day after NORKA Roots said that seven people, including four Australian citizens, remained unreachable following the flash floods in Nepal, while the safety of 45 others had been confirmed.
NORKA Roots, the Kerala government agency coordinating overseas affairs and welfare services for non-resident Keralites, said details of the seven people who remained uncontactable had been shared with the Ministry of External Affairs.
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