Kathmandu, August 30
Nearly 2,400 people remain unaccounted for nearly five days after a devastating flood swept through the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa on August 26.
For their families, the uncertainty has become an agonising wait.
Relatives searching for loved ones who remain missing have urged the government to intensify search and rescue operations and reach those who may still be stranded in forests and other remote areas.
For Niru Tamang of Sindhupalchok, Sunday marked the fifth day since her husband, Ashish Tamang, went missing in Rasuwa.
With their two-year-old child, she has come to Kathmandu in search of her husband.
She has not given up hope that he may have survived by reaching a forest or another safe location.
“My husband, Ashish Tamang, has been missing since the flood. My child is only two years old. I have come this far hoping that I might find him,” she said.
“I want to request the government to speed up the search and rescue. I hope that he may have gone uphill into the forest when the flood came and survived. People who are still in the forests need to be rescued as soon as possible.”
Tamang is among many relatives who have been travelling from one place to another trying to find missing family members as rescue efforts continue in the flood-hit districts.
26 travellers missing after bus swept away
Dozens of people from Dhading who were travelling towards Gosainkunda for a pilgrimage are also still missing after the flood swept through the area.
According to Gopal Bishwakarma of Dhading, 26 people from Nilkantha Municipality wards 9 and 12 and other localities have been unaccounted for since the disaster.
The group was travelling by bus towards Gosainkunda when the flood struck.
Bishwakarma said one of the passengers managed to call a friend in Pokhara after reaching Betrawati and told him that the bus had already been swept away and that they feared they too could be swept away.
“My friends from Nilkantha Municipality-12, 9 and other areas of Dhading—around 26 or 27 people—went missing in the flood while travelling to Gosainkunda. They were travelling in a bus and have not been in contact since,” he said.
“After reaching Betrawati, one of them called my friend in Pokhara and said the bus had already been swept away and that they might also be swept away. He asked him to look after his family and children.”
Bishwakarma said at least one body from the group had been recovered, while others were still missing.
“One body has come here. I have also heard that more bodies are being recovered. But 19 people are still missing,” he said.
Families gather at hospitals
Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu has also seen a steady stream of relatives searching for information about their loved ones.
The hospital premises have remained busy with families who have come to determine the condition and whereabouts of people they have been unable to contact since the floods.
For many of them, the wait continues without an answer.
