Families Travel to Nepal as Search Continues for 33 Missing British Nationals

Relatives of missing travellers have begun flying to Nepal to join search operations following severe flooding and landslides that have killed at least 538 people across the country. Nepalese officials officially named 573 tourists as missing on Friday, a figure that includes 33 British nationals whose families are urgently seeking news regarding their whereabouts.

To assist affected citizens, the UK government is sending a specially-trained rapid deployment crisis response team to Kathmandu on Saturday. The deployment follows a pledge of £5 million in humanitarian financial aid for relief and recovery efforts attributed in official reporting to Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

Emergency search and rescue operations are continuing across affected regions despite rising fears of a second wave of flooding. A large number of the missing foreign citizens were taking part in religious pilgrimages along high-altitude mountain routes connecting Nepal and Tibet when the natural disaster struck on Wednesday.

Several missing individuals were last known to be near the Gyirong border crossing. Neetu Goyal Tiwari, 51, had travelled from London via Delhi to Kathmandu on August 14 to join a pilgrimage organised by the Isha Foundation. Her family reported she was at the Gyirong checkpoint when floods struck, meaning search operations for her are being coordinated by China. Her brother Naresh Goyal issued a public plea to officials, saying, “Please help us find her.” Similarly, Coventry residents Bipin and Mala Patel are believed by their family to have crossed into Tibet moments before a landslide hit the border crossing.

Other tour groups have also lost communication with family members. Hemangini Patel, 65, and Hema Amin, 63, who were travelling with tour operator Alpine Eco Trek, were last identified in online video footage crossing into Tibet early Wednesday morning. Another relative, Tanay Ranjan, stated that an entire tour group with operator Kailash Journey—including his brother Ankit Ranjan, 39, and sister-in-law Ankita Chandra, 35—has been missing since August 26.

Reports from relatives confirm several other British residents remain unaccounted for across the impacted zone. A family of four from Surrey—Santosh Sahu, 46, Surabhi Manmath Padhy, 44, Spandan Sahu, 18, and Syna Kumari Sahu, 13—is missing, according to Royal Grammar School Guildford. Other missing individuals include Kent hospital nurse Sarada Simkhada, London resident Geetha Reddy, who was staying at Hotel Kailash in Rasuwagadh, and Sumitra Sapkota, whose husband Pramod Poudel reported he is travelling to Nepal because “my family needs me.” In Essex, nurse Rajendra Pudasaini stated that five of his relatives were swept away by fast-flowing floodwaters.

Background

Heavy rainfall during the Himalayan monsoon season routinely triggers severe flooding and landslides, cutting off remote transport corridors in Nepal. The border region near the Gyirong crossing and Mount Kailash is a major route for international trekking groups and Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims travelling between Nepal and Tibet.