Days following a devastating flood in the Timure area of Nepal, relatives of two Metro Vancouver couples are frantically seeking updates on their whereabouts. Dhaval and Megha Shah from Port Moody, along with Sumit and Shubakshi Rawla from Coquitlam, are among the numerous individuals missing since the flash flood on August 26 that claimed the lives of at least 676 people.
On Saturday, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand announced that one of the 32 Canadians reported missing in Nepal had been found safe, though the individual’s identity remains undisclosed. Vikram Khosla mentioned that Shubakshi, his cousin, was embarking on a trek to Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet for her 50th birthday when tragedy struck.
According to Khosla, the couple was on the brink of commencing their journey when they last communicated with a family member approximately an hour before the flood hit. Despite no contact since then, he remains hopeful that they are stranded in a safe location. The couple, originally from Singapore and residents of Canada for about four years, have two daughters.
Dhaval’s brother, Kheval Shah, shared that his brother and sister-in-law were lodging at Hotel Kailash near the border on the morning of the flood. The family’s final contact with them was during breakfast, mere minutes before the calamity. Kheval Shah expressed the urgency to ascertain their whereabouts during the catastrophic event for closure, noting that the hotel they stayed in was now submerged.
The missing couple has a 24-year-old daughter. Canada has pledged $5 million in immediate humanitarian aid to assist Nepal, with the funds designated for organizations like the Red Cross to provide aid on the ground.
Kheval Shah stressed the importance of Canadian authorities pressuring Nepal for more information on the search efforts for the missing individuals. Similarly, Khosla voiced frustration over the lack of updates, mentioning that Shubakshi’s siblings have traveled to Kathmandu to navigate their way to the affected zone for answers.
Advocating for a centralized source of real-time information for families with missing loved ones, Khosla emphasized the need for prompt updates. By Saturday afternoon, over 3,700 individuals had been rescued, while 2,426 people were still unaccounted for in the aftermath of the disaster.