Nurse says relatives 'swept away' in Nepal floods

7 hours ago

Rescue efforts continue after flooding hit the Rasuwa district of Nepal on Wednesday

Reuters A man in a high-vis gilet and helmet is holding a woman's right hand with his left hand as he helps her cross an expanse of mud. The woman is wearing red trousers under a yellow floral-patterned tunic. The photograph is taken from behind them. There is a single building/construction, in shadow, a few metres in front of them. The mud stretches to a forest/woodland a few hundred metres in front of them. — Rescue efforts continue after flooding hit the Rasuwa district of Nepal on Wednesday

A nurse said his relatives had been "swept away" by the deadly flash floods near the Nepal-Tibet border.

"My wife's auntie and uncle, and their granddaughter and her husband are missing, and my godson as well," said Rajendra Pudasaini, who works at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex.

More than 30 British nationals are among hundreds of people missing and feared dead as rescue efforts continue in the Rasuwa district following the floods and landslides on Wednesday.

Pudasaini, who is president of the Non-Resident Nepali Association UK, added: "The town and the villages were swept away; it's a tragic thing."

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"They're gone. The speed the water came, they couldn't be saved, they were just swept away," he added.

The death toll from the floods has risen to at least 469, with several hundred people missing, including 644 tourists, according to Nepali authorities.

The death toll from the floods has risen to at least 469, according to Nepali authorities

Reuters Police officers carrying an older woman horizontally in front of them, at waist height. They are wearing yellow high-vis tabards with "NEPAL POLICE" written on the chests. A man carrying the woman at her head end is wearing a dark blue uniform and peaked cap. Trees and the crest of a forested hill are behind them. — The death toll from the floods has risen to at least 469, according to Nepali authorities

Pudasaini said his mother was rescued by the country's army along with her two-and-a-half-month-old great-grandchild.

Speaking on Thursday evening, he said: "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.

"She just crossed past, and luckily she survived, and she was taken to safety today about a couple of hours ago."

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The nurse said he had "lost contact" with relatives because of the damage done to electricity supplies and internet connections in Nepal.

Pudasaini's son, Suraj, who also lives in Essex, said his grandmother, great-uncle and great-aunt were missing, saying: "We just keep on calling them to see whether they pick up."

Map showing the path of floodwaters along the Lende Khola, Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers in northern Nepal after a glacier collapse near the Tibet border. The collapse sent ice and rock debris into the river, triggering flooding that destroyed a border checkpoint and continued downstream past Syrapu Besi. An inset map locates the affected area north of Kathmandu.

Pudasaini said his association was due to have a meeting with the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office on Friday.

Some 33 people from the UK, including a 13-year-old girl and 14-year-old boy, are among those missing, the Nepal Tourism Board said.

Fishtail Tours and Travels said Leena Bector, from Slough, Berkshire, was among 27 travellers associated with the tour group who were 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."

The Trekkers' Society said nine British nationals on one of its tours to the Hindu site of Mount Kailash were among those unaccounted for, which included four males, aged 14, 50, 50 and 54, and five females, aged 40, 46, 50, 50 and 53.

Roshan Basnet, the operator's general manager, 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."

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.