An Australia-based couple from Odisha holidaying in Nepal was among hundreds of people missing across Nepal and Tibet after a wall of mud and rock collapsed into a Himalayan river, triggering floods and leaving at least 165 dead.
“We are in touch with their family and are trying to collect information and forward it to the Indian Embassy [in Nepal]. “The roads were cut off as bridges were washed away. The state government has set up a round-the-clock control room (7428135044, 8527580245, 011-23012807) at its guest house in Delhi to assist people from the state stranded or in distress in Nepal. Rakesh Ranjan Panda, a resident of Puri who was in Nepal with two friends for sightseeing and returned to India through Bihar’s Raxaul border, said the tragedy occurred around 100 km from where they were. Nepalese officials said almost 600 foreigners were among 826 people missing, including 177 from India. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said 260 foreign nationals were among 558 missing in Tibet’s Gyirong.
Pritish Panda, an Odisha government officer on special duty with the department coordinating with the external affairs minister, said they were informed about the couple going missing after a helpline number was issued. We faced a lot of difficulties in returning,” Panda said. He said they met seven women from Odisha’s Jajpur district at Pashupatinath temple in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu, who planned to travel to the mountains. “We have no idea about their whereabouts,” he said.
