Nepal flash floods: 25 from Gujarat, including overseas citizens, remain uncontactable

Gandhinagar: At least 25 people linked to Gujarat have been reported missing or uncontactable following the devastating flash floods along Nepal’s Bhote Koshi river near the Nepal-China border, according to the latest information compiled by the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) on Saturday.

The list includes residents and people with roots in Ahmedabad, Anand, Amreli, Kheda, Rajkot, Surat and Valsad, besides several overseas citizens of Indian origin from the US, Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.

The information shows that families have been trying to establish contact with relatives after communications were disrupted in the mountainous border region.

Most were travelling towards Kailash Mansarovar through the Rasuwagadhi-Kerung corridor when communications were disrupted.

Among those listed are Kinnari and Mihir Patel of Vadodara, travelling with Richa Tours on August 23; Bimalkumar Patel and Jaimina Patel of Anand, who left on August 16 with Namaste Nepal Trekking and Research Hub; and Ashok Kapadi of Ahmedabad, who travelled on August 25 with Samrat Tours and Travels and was last contacted at about 8:30 a.m. near the China-border immigration centre.

The list also names Jay Kotecha and Roma Intwala in connection with the Friendship Bridge-Bhote Koshi River area. Intwala has subsequently been reported safe in Nepal.

Three people travelling from Ahmedabad through Richa Tours — Paresh Patel, Jyoti Patel and Minaxi Ramani — were last contacted at about 8:10 a.m. on August 26, with no contact established in the following 24 hours.

The records identify all three as US residents, with native links to Ahmedabad.

The list further includes Dinesh Patel, Umesh Patel, Akansha Patel, Ishan Patel and Shilpa Patel, among others, with American, Canadian and Australian citizenship noted against several names.

Two people from Anand, Padma Patel and Jagdish Patel, were reported missing after reaching Delhi on August 25 for their onward Kailash Mansarovar journey.

US citizen Bina Parikh, an NRI based in New York with an Indian address in Usmanpura area of Ahmedabad, is also listed; her last known location was the Nepal-Tibet/Kailash approach corridor along the Bhote Koshi river.

The list records two further cases: Poonam Thakkar, a US-Canadian dual citizen from Ahmedabad now residing in Illinois, and Bavika Ramjee, a South African citizen linked to Surat.

As of Saturday, authorities said that death toll has risen to 616 and many people remained missing after the floods. It added that search, rescue and relief operations were continuing.

The disaster struck the key Rasuwa-Rasuwagadhi corridor, an important route for pilgrims travelling towards Kailash Mansarovar, while roads, bridges and communications infrastructure were badly damaged.

IANS