We just want them home: Texas sisters search for parents lost in Nepal floods

Deepak and Madhu Ahuja, a Texas-based Indian-origin couple, went missing after flash floods hit the Nepal-Tibet border as they returned from a Mount Kailash pilgrimage. Their daughters have been seeking answers from officials as rescuers search for hundreds still untraced across the disaster zone.

In Short

• Indian-origin couple Deepak and Madhu Ahuja missing after Kailash pilgrimage
• The couple were returning from an Isha Foundation pilgrimage to Kailash
• Flash floods in Nepal-Tibet border kill over 350, 1,500 missing

Devastating flash floods in Nepal and neighbouring Tibet have killed more than 350 people, left nearly 1,500 people missing across Nepal and Tibet, and cut off contact with many Indian nationals. Among those missing are Deepak and Madhu Ahuja, an Indian-origin couple living in Texas, whose daughters, Ashna and Shreya, have been desperately waiting for news of their parents since the floods struck near the Nepal-Tibet border.

According to the BBC, Deepak and Madhu Ahuja had travelled from Texas to Mount Kailash on a group pilgrimage organised by the Isha Foundation to celebrate Deepak's 60th birthday. The couple had completed the pilgrimage and were returning when the floods hit the area around the Gyirong Port border crossing between Tibet and Nepal.

NO ANSWER FROM THEIR PARENTS

The Ahuja family realised something was wrong after a relative saw reports of the flooding. The sisters immediately began trying to reach their parents.

"We all immediately started calling our parents. No answer," one of the sisters told the BBC. The family later received an email from the Isha Foundation saying that flooding had affected a group at the immigration office at the Gyirong Port border crossing.

The sisters said they feared their parents were in that building when the floods hit. One of them had spoken to her parents about an hour and a half before they were due to reach the border. At the time, they were preparing to leave for the crossing.

"I talked to them just an hour and a half before they reached the border," she said. "They were about to depart for the border when I talked to them."

"I was actually supposed to see them in Dallas the day that they landed," she added. "And so we were just talking about my upcoming plans and we were supposed to spend a weekend together this weekend."

The sisters have contacted the US State Department as well as US embassies in India, Nepal and China, but say they have not received concrete information about where their parents are.

"It's only been one day, but it has felt like much longer," they told the BBC. "We just love them a lot and want them to come home." The emotional strain was evident as the sisters spoke about their parents.

The family fears the couple may have been inside an immigration office at the border when the flooding occurred. In a video message posted on Thursday, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev said 80 members of the group were missing after the flash floods struck along the Nepal-Tibet border. He made an emotional appeal to the Indian and Chinese embassies for permission to travel to Gyirong and assist with rescue operations and the search for the missing pilgrims.

The disaster has killed at least 359 people in Nepal, while 288 Indian nationals remain out of contact, according to India's Ministry of External Affairs. Hundreds more people have been reported missing in Nepal and Tibet.

HUNDREDS OF INDIANS STILL NEED HELP

This comes as authorities work to locate and evacuate nationals affected by the disaster.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said 21 Indians who had gone missing in Nepal had been rescued and were being brought back to India. He said several other Indians remained stranded on the Chinese side of the border in Tibet. More than 200 Indians have sought assistance with evacuation, including about 95 in Darchen. Others were reported in Jilong City and Zutulphuk, while additional groups were travelling to other locations.

Nepal's Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal said nearly 1,500 people, including at least 800 foreigners, were missing across Nepal and Tibet as authorities continued assessing the scale of the disaster.

The floods struck on Wednesday after an avalanche apparently blocked the flow of the Lhende tributary of the Bhote Koshi river, sending a huge volume of water downstream.

Timure, near Nepal's Rasuwagadhi border crossing with Tibet, was among the first areas hit. The floodwaters then swept through settlements and damaged roads, bridges and hydropower projects. Across the border, Gyirong Port was also badly affected. Chinese officials said hundreds of people were missing in Gyirong county, including foreign nationals.

The rugged Himalayan region is a major route for trekkers and pilgrims travelling between Tibet, Nepal and other parts of the region, making the disaster particularly disruptive for travellers.

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