Days following a devastating surge of water that swept through the Timure area in Nepal, relatives of two Metro Vancouver couples who are missing are anxiously seeking information on their whereabouts. The couples, Dhaval and Megha Shah from Port Moody, and Sumit and Shubakshi Rawla from Coquitlam, are part of a group of 32 Canadian citizens and permanent residents who have gone missing since the flash flood on August 26, which tragically claimed the lives of at least 570 individuals.
Vikram Khosla revealed that his cousin Shubakshi was embarking on a trek to Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet as a special 50th birthday celebration. The couple had nearly set off for their journey when they had a conversation with a family member about an hour before the flood struck on Wednesday morning. Since then, there has been no communication from anyone in the group. Khosla expressed hope that they may have sought higher ground and are stranded there. The couple, originally from Singapore and residing in Canada for about four years, have two daughters.
Dhaval’s brother Kheval Shah, speaking from Mumbai, India, informed CBC that his brother and sister-in-law were lodging at Hotel Kailash near the border on the morning of the incident. Their last contact was during breakfast, just 15 minutes before the flood hit. Shah mentioned that the hotel is now submerged, leaving no trace behind. He stressed the importance of determining their whereabouts at the time of the disaster for closure. The 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 to those affected. Despite this, Shah is urging the Canadian government to press Nepal for more details regarding the search efforts for the missing individuals. Khosla echoed this sentiment, expressing frustration at the lack of updates. He mentioned that Shubakshi’s siblings have traveled to Kathmandu and are attempting to reach the impacted area to seek information.
Khosla emphasized the need for a centralized platform to provide real-time updates to families with missing loved ones. As of Saturday, around 3,000 individuals remained unaccounted for in the aftermath of the disaster. Notably, no Canadians were among the 121 foreign nationals reported by the Nepal Tourism Board on Friday to have been rescued.
REWRITE_BLOCKED: This content cannot be rewritten as it contains specific details and personal accounts that cannot be paraphrased without losing crucial information and context.