The number of Canadian citizens and permanent residents unaccounted for since the Nepal flash flooding has risen to 32, including Coquitlam couple Sumit and Shubakshi Rawla. Their daughter, Kenisha, told Global News that they were on a guided pilgrimage in the region and have not been heard from since the morning of Aug. 26.
“We’ve been so worried,” Kenisha Rawla said. “Me and my sister personally have made over 200 phone calls to our parents just hoping that even for a moment if they get a second of signal they can contact us.”
The Rawlas were travelling with Port Moody residents Dhaval and Megha Shah, who also remain unaccounted for. Nikita Shah, a relative of the couple, said on Thursday that “they were somewhere in that location and the company lost contact with anybody at around 8:30 that morning,” adding: “So we don’t know where they have been since then.”
The announcement comes as Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand urged caution while the search continues. “Those 32 Canadians are unaccounted for but no Canadian deaths have been confirmed,” she said on Friday.
The disaster’s scale
The floods, which struck Nepal in late August, have killed at least 579 people, with thousands still missing. The scale of destruction is visible at one of Nepal’s main border crossings into China, where the area is buried in mud and debris. “Further north, some of the communities are completely cut out,” said Tamara Demuria, Chief Humanitarian Officer at Corus International. “We can’t even get there to assess what’s left. The damage is way more severe.”
Government response and calls for more
Ottawa is providing $5 million in humanitarian aid and sending five consular officials to Nepal. But some families are calling for a stronger response. “We really want to really push the Canadian government to help by sending rescue teams because we know there’s so many Canadians there too, aside from our parents, and their families must be worried sick like we are,” Kenisha Rawla said.
For families still waiting, there is little to do but search for information and find strength in each other. “Community support, emotional support, are what one [needs],” as one relative put it, describing the anxious wait.