Fears are mounting for American tourists who embarked on a spiritual pilgrimage to Nepal when a glacier collapsed and caused devastating floods that have now claimed the lives of over 900 people.
Nine US residents have been evacuated from the region since the catastrophic floods engulfed the Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the US State Department announced on Sunday.
But more than 4,000 people from across the globe remain unaccounted for – including 85 Americans who descended on the region to climb Mount Kailash, one of the most sacred peaks in the Himalayas.
Tibetan Buddhists believe the mountain is the center of the universe and that the trek, known as kora, brings one closer to enlightenment.
Hindus also revere the mountain as the home to Shiva, the god of destruction and transformation, while Jains believe a prophet climbed the mountain to achieve salvation.
Meanwhile, the Tibetan Bon tradition also considers the peak a source of spiritual power.
Scores of Americans – ranging from an eighth-grader from New York to a 60-year-old grandmother-of-four from Atlanta, Georgia – embarked on the pilgrimage this year when the devastating flash floods occurred.
Their loved ones back home say they have now been left without answers about their family members’ whereabouts as the desperate search efforts continue and the US starts to provide aid to the region.
Eighty-five Americans remain missing after devastating flash floods wreaked havoc on the Nepal-China border
Tourists from around the world have descended on Mount Kailash, one of the most sacred peaks in the Himalayas
The devastating sequence of events began just after 8.30am local time on the day of the floods, when the earth started shaking along the Nepal-China border.
The US Geological Survey initially detected the shaking as a magnitude 5.2 earthquake but later determined that a massive section of glacier had collapsed.
The United States Geological Survey described the seismic event as an extremely powerful ‘glacial collapse and debris flow’ that caused catastrophic impacts downstream.
As the ice mass plummeted, it was pulverized into a fast-flowing mix of freezing water, debris and rocks that swept down the mountainside into the Lende Khola River, razing villages along the way.
It also completely wiped out the border checkpoints and the Friendship Bridge that connects Nepal to China, which tourists seeking to climb Mount Kailash must pass through.
The Himalayan Glacier tour company has since said that 40 of its pilgrims, including eight Americans, remain unaccounted for.
Tennessee-based spiritual organization Isha Foundation also said 77 of its pilgrims were missing – including 22 Americans.
In a grim update on Saturday, the group said the floods had buried the area under 50 feet of silt and debris.
An aerial view shows workers using excavators to clear sludge following flash floods at Trishuli in Nepal’s Nuwakot district on August 27
A drone view shows damaged buildings and houses covered in mud next to the Likhu River
An aerial view of destroyed houses and roads covered in muds along the Trishuli River
‘The immigration office complex has been completely washed away,’ the Isha Foundation posted on X.
‘We were desperately hoping for some positive indication from the site,’ it continued. ‘However, we are deeply pained to share that the devastating findings we have been able to verify so far are not giving us any encouraging indication.
‘We wish with all our hearts that we could offer something more hopeful,’ the group’s organizers added, but ‘everything our teams have seen and everything those closest to the site have shared with us has led us to expect the worst.’
Among those who had traveled with the Isha Foundation was Anil Goel, of Centreville, Virginia, who had trained with his friends for months leading up to the trip.
Others in his group included Mary Sorenson, a 60-year-old Atlanta resident; Prabhath Sajeepa, a 48-year-old father-of-two from California who was seeking a blessing for his ailing father; and VS ‘Bali’ Balasubramanyam, an ardent devotee of Shiva who relocated from New Jersey to India, the Washington Post reports.
In a video posted online on August 20, Balasubramanyam could be seen in the back of the crowd nodding in deep prayer as Sadhguru, a prominent Indian guru, explained how pilgrims must walk once they arrive at the peak of the mountain.
‘When you go to Kailash, from the time you start walking, you must see you are walking on the body of Shiva,’ he told the group, demonstrating quiet, respectful steps.
‘It’s not a picnic, all right? Kailash is a phenomena.’
Anil Goel, of Centreville, Virginia, had trained with his friends for months leading up to the trip
Rekha Shashidharan and her 14-year-old daughter, Rashi, told Rekha’s brother, Shekhar Agrawal how they were planning to go to the immigration checkpoint at around noon that day and cross into Tibet
Mary Sorenson, a 60-year-old grandmother-of-four, is among those missing
The group reached Mount Kailash on August 22, when Balasubramanyam told his sister in a video call that he was having a surreal experience that was difficult to put into words.
His family then thought they would be able to catch up with him and ask him more about the experience upon his return.
Meanwhile, Sorenson sent her son some photos of the brightly colored prayer flags at the base of the mountain, but went into little detail about the experience over text.
She instead told family she was looking forward to the long flights home so she could gather all of her thoughts to share how ‘truly enlightening’ the experience had been.
Goeb also sent his family a picture of him posing with several members of the tour group in front of the Gyirong immigration facility that would be destroyed just half an hour later.
Separately, Rekha Shashidharan and her 14-year-old daughter, Rashi, told Rekha’s brother, Shekhar Agrawal how they were planning to go to the immigration checkpoint at around noon that day and cross into Tibet.
‘After that, there was radio silence, nothing, no contact whatsoever,’ Agrawal told CNN.
Sorenson sent her son some photos of the brightly colored prayer flags at the base of the mountain
Family members of a victim of the Tibet-Nepal flood became emotional after finding a photo of thier loved one hung outside the morgue on Sunday
Families and relatives of those missing in the Tibet-Nepal flood check the name images of those missing at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu on Sunday
Many of the pilgrims had been scheduled to fly back to their home countries the following day.
Instead, their families have been left poring through satellite images of post-flood damage and scouring survivor lists in Nepal. Some have even looked through an online database where Nepalese authorities have uploaded photos of recovered bodies to see if they could be identified.
Some family members have since been able to piece together information about their loved ones’ last known whereabouts.
Hema Shankar, for example, said she determined that three members of her extended family – Anitha Radhakrishnan, Balaji Venkatachalam and Deepa Balaji – were on a bridge at around 8.15 or 8.30am local time on Wednesday after spotting them in the background of a photo.
‘And after that, we lost contact with them completely,’ she said.
Anurag Goel, Anil’s son, also told WJLA how officials with the Nepalese government were able to ascertain that he went through customs at the border around 8.35am, giving him just about 45 minutes to cross the border and get to higher ground on foot before the flash floods.
‘From my perspective, just from what I’ve researched [that] may not be sufficient,’ he said.
Riley Wilderson also said he is aware that his mother, Sorensen, was most likely inside the now-decimated Gyirong immigration facility.
Still, he said, he is trying to focus on stories of miraculous recoveries.
‘We hope and pray and believe in a God of miracles,’ he told the Washington Post. ‘If people are being saved, there’s always hope that she can be as well.’
Nepal Army personnel are pictured rescuing a man following the deadly flash floods
Police and army personnel bury unidentified bodies recovered from the flash floods at a mass burial site in the Devghat Forest
But Agrawal, Shashidharan’s sister, has said the experience has left him ‘hopeless’ and like he ‘can’t do much.’
He is now holding tightly to the possibility that his sister and niece were still in the hotel at the time of the flash flood and could be eventually reunited with the family.
‘We are hoping for the best because these kinds of things have happened earlier also, and we have seen cases where people have walked [out] after three days, four days, five days,’ Agrawal said on Thursday.
‘Right now, the only thing that you can do is be hopeful.’
Yet Anurag Goel told the Washington Post he fears too much time has now passed for authorities to find his father alive.
His main concern now, he said, is whether local authorities are doing enough to treat the remains of the flash flood victims with dignity.
Goel also said he thought the US government should do more to search for or recover missing Americans.
‘Distance shouldn’t diminish the value of American lives,’ he asserted.
A stuffed toy lies amid debris and mud on the ground outside a damaged house
His comment came as the State Department has increased assistance to US embassies in Kathmandu and Beijing.
‘We have activated $3.6 million in emergency humanitarian assistance that includes up to three months of emergency food for up to 10,000 flood-affected households,’ State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott told ABC News‘ This Week.
Catholic Relief Services has been tasked with doling out the first half million dollars, but the group’s South Asia representative Senthal Kumar Gurunathan said delivering the aid will be challenging due to the blocked roads.
‘We are actually trying to find alternative roads, safer roads, which can actually help us to get the lifesaving stuff to people,’ he told NPR.
The first deliveries of US assistance arrived Saturday and Sunday, according to the US Embassy in Nepal. It included 500 blankets, 500 mosquito nets, 500 insulating foam sheets for shelter floors and two and a half tons of food.
The department has also been working with officials in Nepal to assist with search efforts.
‘Our priority is the safety and security of the American people. As you mentioned, the remoteness of this location makes getting reliable information difficult. But our dedication remains,’ Pigott said.
‘Our embassies in Beijing and Kathmandu are working 24/7 to communicate and coordinate with local officials, trying to get reliable information,’ he added.
The historic flooding has destroyed multiple towns and already claimed hundreds of lives, with the death toll expected to rise as search efforts continue.
Terrifying footage of the flash flooding showed enormous plumes of dirt and fast-flowing water hurtling through villages as onlookers ran for their lives.
‘If any American is in the region, please register for the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program. That is so essential, so we know how to contact you,’ Pigott added.
