A 13-year-old, NHS workers and a priest are among those with links to the UK who are missing and feared dead after flash floods in Nepal. The death toll from the disaster has reached more than 600 as a team from the UK is set to arrive in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu on Saturday.
The Nepal Tourist Board has previously said that there are 33 UK citizens among the thousands missing after Wednesday’s devastating flash flood.
UK citizens among the missing
Among those missing with links to the UK are Hema Amin, from Croydon, south London, who started a pilgrimage to Gosainkunda lake on Monday that was supposed to last until September 4. The 63-year-old’s husband, Sunil Amin, told Sky News: “I keep trying to call her. I’ve been trying, trying, trying.”
Hemangini Patel’s daughter told the BBC that her mother’s last known location is from a video from TikTok which was shared as she crossed into Tibet. She said her mother, 65, and her aunt, Hema Amin, had been on an Alpine Eco Trek tour when the flooding hit.
Mala, 60, and Bipin, 66, Patel, from Coventry, went missing after travelling to Nepal and Tibet on a pilgrimage to the sacred Hindu site of Mount Kailash. Their son, Deepesh Patel, told the Press Association the family last heard from the couple, who run a tutoring business, on Tuesday and their last known location was in the Gyirong area of the Nepal-China border. Deepesh’s brother Anant Patel told Sky News he was “shocked” at the lack of information about their whereabouts.
Priest and Surrey family
Nabhi Nandan Das is a Hindu priest from south London who was leading a group on a tour to Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar. The Telegraph reported that the 64-year-old priest, who lives in Streatham, south London and works at the Sanatan Mandir and Community Centre in Coulsdon, Surrey, was leading 11 Britons, including the missing 13-year-old girl, on the tour.
Spandan Sahu, 18, his father Santosh Sahu, 46, his mother Surabhi Manmath Padhy, 44, and sister Syna Kumari Sahu, 13, are also missing. Spandan had just finished his A-levels at Royal Grammar School, Guildford, and according to his LinkedIn was preparing to study philosophy, politics and economics at university. His profile said he was a senior prefect at the private school and a member of the hockey and cricket teams. His mother, Ms Padhy, won the categories of “Mrs Popular” and “Mrs Goodwill” in the 2018 Mrs India UK beauty pageant finals and his father Mr Sahu is chief executive of UK pharmaceutical technology company Charac. They live in the Surrey village of Cobham, with a neighbour describing them as a “lovely family”.
Pavan and Kavita Haldia’s 22-year-old son Prajval told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he last spoke to them on Tuesday on the phone and had a message from his parents on Wednesday morning, around an hour before the flood is believed to have hit. Prajval told the BBC he dropped his parents off at the airport for their trip to Kathmandu where they were spending a few days sightseeing before setting out on a pilgrimage with the South London Sanatan Mandir group. Speaking to Sky News, Prajval said his parents “mean everything to me”.
Other UK-linked missing
Leena Bector, 53, a director of a care agency from Slough, west London, is among 27 travellers associated with the Fishtail Tours and Travels group currently unaccounted for. Her husband, Bhupesh Bector, told The Times: “I know that she’s in Nepal for sure… so even if they find her today or tomorrow, I need to be there.”
Sarada Simkhada is a senior nurse at Darent Valley Hospital in Kent, who was in Nepal making a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash. Her brother Shambhu wrote on social media: “My dear sister, wherever you are, please stay strong. We are praying for your safety every moment and waiting desperately for you to return home.”
Pravin Atmakur, a 54-year-old NHS psychiatry consultant, was leading a pilgrimage of 77 people to Mount Kailash when the flood hit, according to the Telegraph. His wife, Manjula, has travelled to Kathmandu from the UK to search for her husband, the newspaper said. “I came here with the only agenda that I want to take Pravin back home alive,” Ms Atmakur said, speaking to the paper from Nepal. “No one told us anything. We clearly feel let down by the British government. There is no information, they are waiting for China to share the information, updates,” she added. Her husband was born in southern India before moving to the UK and their son studies at Trinity College, Cambridge.
Sumitra Sapkota’s husband Pamod Poudel flew to Nepal on Thursday to search for her as well as his mother, uncle and brother. Pramod Poudel, 24, who runs a Nepalese street food company in Sussex, told The Telegraph: “The flood came and took everyone, including the house. I haven’t heard from them because there’s no power or anything. I am very sad.” Speaking to the BBC, Mr Poudel said his mother, brother and uncle are also missing since the flood.
Neetu Goyal Tiwari, 51, has not been seen since Wednesday, her brother Naresh Goyal told the BBC, adding that completing the pilgrimage was “her dream”. Ms Tiwari, a British citizen, had been travelling with a group from the spiritual organisation Isha Foundation and was expected to travel to India on Thursday and meet her brother and parents, according to the broadcaster.
Geetha Reddy’s husband Vikram Kolagatla, who is from London, told the BBC he has not heard from his wife since the flooding hit. She has two daughters aged 12 and 14. He said: “We’re not sure what to do. I have two little girls, and their schools are starting next week.” “The kids still don’t believe it. They think she’s stuck in the flood and that she’ll come back. They think she’s stuck somewhere and there’s no mobile network.”
