A nurse from Kent is among the Britons missing in Nepal after the devastating flash floods in the South Asian nation.
Sarada Simkhada, a senior nurse at Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford, was one of 33 Britons missing, a local councillor said, as rescue efforts continued after flooding in the Rasuwa district bordering China’s Tibet region.
The catastrophic floods killed at least 469 people and left hundreds more missing, according to official estimates released on Friday.
Another Briton from Slough is also said to be unaccounted for.
Fishtail Tours and Travels said Leena Bector was among 27 travellers associated with the tour group currently missing.
“I know that she’s in Nepal for sure,” her husband, Bhupesh Bector, told The Times, “so even if they find her today or tomorrow, I need to be there.”
Meanwhile, an Essex nurse said his relatives were “swept away” by the flash floods as he launched a fundraiser to support those affected by the disaster.
Rajendra Pudasaini, president of the Non-Resident Nepali Association UK, said Nepal was witnessing an “irreplaceable loss”, adding that the country was “paying the price for global warming”.
Mr Pudasaini also launched an appeal to raise funds for families affected by the devastation.
The nurse, who works at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex, said: “My wife’s auntie and uncle, and their granddaughter and her husband are missing, and my godson as well. They’re gone.”
“The speed the water came, they couldn’t be saved, they were just swept away,” he added. “The town and the villages were swept away, it’s a tragic thing.”
Mr Pudasaini said his mother was rescued by the army along with her months-old great-grandchild.
“My mother was trapped in the hospital. She went to the hospital in the morning just a few minutes before the flood came in the river,” he said on Thursday evening.
“She just crossed past, and luckily she survived, and she was taken to safety today about a couple of hours ago.”
The nurse said he had “lost contact with the families” because of the damage done to electricity supplies and internet connections in Nepal.
Mr Pudasaini’s son Suraj, from Essex, said his grandmother, great-uncle and great-aunt were missing. “We just keep on calling them to see whether they pick up.”
Mr Pudasaini added: “We are basically trying to help them to rehabilitate, giving them basic needs, foods, clothes.”
The association he leads is meeting with Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office on Friday morning.
“We hope to be looked after well because of our connection and our service in the military in British armies and things like that,” Mr Pudasaini said.
“We have a very good relationship with the UK – 200-years-plus relationship in terms of diplomatic relations.”
A Sussex man said he had not heard from his wife, mother, father, brother, and uncle in Nepal since the country was hit by the flash floods.
Speaking to the BBC, Pramod Poudel from Uckfield, said he believed “90 per cent” of the village his family lived in had been swept away, and that he feared the worst for them.
“I have my dad, my mum, my brother, my uncle, and my wife who live there, and I haven’t heard from them for a while,” he told BBC Radio Sussex. “I don’t know what to expect.”
Hema Amin, from Croydon, south London, had started a pilgrimage to Gosainkunda lake on Monday that was supposed to last until September 4.
Her husband, Sunil Amin, told Sky News: “I keep trying to call her. I’ve been trying, trying, trying.”
A number of those missing had been making a pilgrimage to the sacred Hindu site of Mount Kailash, Nepalese tour operator The Trekkers’ Society said.
The operator said nine British nationals on one of its tours to the site were among those unaccounted for – four males, aged 14, 50, 50, and 54, and five females, aged 40, 46, 50, 50, and 53.
General manager Roshan Basnet said: “When the flood happened, they were still at the Chinese immigration at the border. After the flood happened, we had no contact with our tour guide.”
He added: “We have yet to get the confirmation of what state they’re in, but as for the video that is circulating on the internet, we believe that it’s a pretty difficult situation.”
Tour operator Alpine Eco Trek said a 13-year-old girl was among the missing British nationals as well as two Irish citizens.
Among the missing British nationals are also three men aged 65, 64, and 52, and seven women aged 44, 47, 51, 60, 63, 63, and 65, according to travel logs obtained by PA.
Kumar Adhikari, the manager of Alpine Eco Trek, said the tour group, who were on a nine-day tour to Mount Kailash, were crossing into Tibet from Nepal when they became trapped at the border as the flash floods struck.
He said he was in contact with his tour guides until 8.40am when their phones went offline, at which point the group would have been inside Tibet’s immigration office.
“We were hoping that inside it was safe,” he said.
“But later the video came from China’s government which showed even Tibet’s side was hit by the flood.”
Tour operator Kailash Journeys confirmed it had not been able to account for seven UK nationals, five women and two men aged between 18 and 55, travelling with the company.
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