Nepal Floods
A group of distraught families and friends in Sydney are making an urgent appeal for information about loved ones who remain out of contact following the devastating flash floods in Nepal.
Sydney-based family friend and doctor of many of the travellers, Dr Manoj Dharmaratnam, is leading the appeal. He said those waiting for news are struggling to comprehend what has happened and are desperate for any information that could help establish the whereabouts of the missing travellers.
The group of 15 Indian Australians had travelled to Nepal as part of a trekking and religious journey, with some members having planned the trip for more than three months. According to Dr Dharmaratnam, the travellers had been in Nepal for about a week before the disaster struck.
Cherrybrook based Sreedharan Iyer (53) is travelling with his wife Lakshmi Sreedharan Iyer (50) and two sons Rudra Sreedharan Iyer (21) and Rishabh Iyer (24). Both the boys are studying medicine, one at Western Sydney University and the other at Newcastle University.
They had joined their Cherrybrook based friends Venkataraman Balakrishnan (53) and Chitra Venkatraman (46) on the trek. Another resident of Cherrybrook, Rajeswari Sharma, celebrated her 64th birthday last week. In the group are also Sruthi Chandrasekaran (37), Krishna Sharma (50) and Umesh Sharma (56), Chandrasekaran Muralitharan (37), Ashwin Muralitharan (14), Aarush Muralitharan (12), Shylaja Muralitharan (42), and Kumar Ramaswamy Sampath (51).
The devastating flash flood struck Nepal’s Rasuwa region on Wednesday, a huge surge of water, mud and rock swept through areas near the Nepal-China border. Hundreds of people, including foreign tourists, have been reported missing as rescue teams continue their search.
The group travelled with Himalayan Glacier Travels, and Dr Dharmaratnam said he had been informed that a hotel where some of the travellers were staying had been swept away in the disaster.
Attempts from relatives in Australia to reach the missing travellers by mobile phone have failed.
The silence has left families facing an agonising wait.
“They are very, very distraught,” Dr Dharmaratnam said, describing the condition of those waiting in Sydney. He said some family members were currently in shock and finding it difficult even to speak about what had happened.
One young woman connected to the group is a medical student at Western Sydney University and has been closely connected with one of the travellers, for whom sudden loss of communication has heightened anxiety.
Dr Dharmaratnam said some of the travellers were his patients and that, before their departure, he had even expressed concerns about the physical demands of the trip for some members of the group.
The journey was not simply a conventional holiday. He understood it to be a combination of religious travel and hiking, with the group taking on the challenge of travelling through a high-altitude region. Known as the Kailash Yatra, the remote route is run by numerous companies including Himalayan Glacier Travels, and treks through the Rasuwagadhi Nepal-China border region.
For the families in Sydney, every passing hour brings another unanswered call and another anxious check of a phone.
They are asking the wider community, fellow travellers and anyone with connections in Nepal to keep their eyes and ears open.
The appeal is simple: if you have been in contact with any of these travellers, or have seen them since the floods, please come forward with information.
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Even a message, photograph, social-media post, contact through another traveller or confirmed sighting could provide crucial reassurance to families who currently have no way of knowing whether their loved ones are safe.
Dr Dharmaratnam is also seeking photographs of the missing travellers so they can be circulated and potentially help people in Nepal recognise them.
The families stress that information should be shared carefully and responsibly. At this stage, being unreachable does not necessarily mean someone has died or been seriously injured. Communications infrastructure in the affected region has been severely disrupted, while roads, bridges and other access routes have been damaged.
If you have heard from any of the missing travellers, seen them, travelled with them or have information that may help locate them, please contact the families or Dr Manoj Dharmaratnam and pass on that information as soon as possible.
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A total 403 tourists have gone missing, with 103 of them believed to be Indian nationals.
At 8:37am Nepal time, an earthquake was recorded in the Rasuwagadhi Nepal-China border region, which subsequently triggered a landslide, and sent debris and floodwater through the region.
The Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, and Gorkha districts are the worst affected, and due to no reports of rainfall, residents were largely unprepared for the deluge.
The flood has caused significant damage in the Nepal-China border region, particularly in Rasuwa, where several government offices, security installations, hydropower facilities and other infrastructure have been affected.
The United States Geological Survey have since described the earthquake as ‘ glacial collapse and debris flow’ which ’caused subsequent catastrophic impacts downstream’. Investigation continues as to the cause of the disaster.
Himalayan Glacier say they cannot locate 15 of their travellers, while Kailash Journey says they have lost six of their travellers, and one Australian remains missing from Kathmandu Holiday Tours and Travels.
India has extended 10 tonnes of humanitarian assistance to Nepal to support relief operations, while Australia has deployed DFAT personnel and crisis support teams.
