Nepal Floods: Six Keralites with foreign citizenship remain untraced; last seen on Tibet border

Thiruvananthapuram: Six Keralites holding foreign citizenship remain untraced after the flash floods in Nepal, while most others from the state stranded in the country are returning home.

The six include four Australian nationals, one British citizen and one US citizen. All six have family roots in Kerala and were reportedly in the China-Nepal border region when the flash floods struck. Four of those missing were part of a 39-member group of Australian citizens of Indian origin.

According to their last known location, they were at a border post called Gyirong in Tibet, where the immigration office was completely washed away by the rain.

“The four Australian citizens are from Ponnani and were travelling as part of an international group. Two of them are medical students aged around 21 and 23, while the other two are women,” NORKA Roots CEO Rajesh Madhavan told Onmanorama.

The other missing persons include US citizen Krishnakumar Raghavan, 59, and Sunanda Manirajan, 63, from Kongal in Paravur, Kollam. Sunanda has been living in the UK for around 40 years.

She was part of a 16-member group accompanied by four guides that travelled to Nepal. She was the only Malayali in the group, which included people from African countries, the UK and Ireland.

“She spoke to us last at around noon on August 25. At that time, she was waiting outside the Tibetan immigration office for a visa to cross the border,” her husband Manirajan said.

The family initially assumed that they were unable to contact her because of poor network connectivity in the region. However, repeated attempts to reach her have failed. The family has sought assistance from the British and Indian embassies.

Sunanda had reportedly reached Rasuwagadhi near the Tibet-Nepal border before contact was lost. She was travelling with the Alpine Echo Trek Group. Her husband, a retired UK government official, is a resident of Kunnathikkavu Nagar in Eravipuram. Their children are Dr Meera Maniraj and Dr Sumi Maniraj.

NORKA Roots said two people from Kerala continue to remain in Nepal. One is Alan Vincent, who is pursuing a course in the country. NORKA has spoken to his family and confirmed that he is safe. He plans to return after completing the course.

Authorities are also establishing the whereabouts of another woman based in the UAE. She is originally from Kollam, settled in Bengaluru and works in the UAE.

The woman contacted a colleague after the floods, which authorities consider a positive indication that she is safe. However, they have not been able to establish direct contact with her since then and are trying to obtain the contact details of her relatives.

MEA confirmation awaited
NORKA is awaiting confirmation from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on the status of the missing persons and any casualties.

“Since this incident occurred outside India, we have to follow the procedure established by the MEA through the embassy. Our main points of contact are the Resident Commissioner in Delhi and our Development Officer in Delhi. They are communicating with the Second Secretaries at the embassy and officials of the MEA,” Madhavan said.

The Nepal Police released photographs of unidentified bodies on Monday. However, Madhavan said it was difficult to establish identities from the photographs, as several cases involved only body parts.

“There are around 114 pages of photographs, and it is difficult to establish identities based on them,” he said.

Madhavan said Nepal has a protocol for identifying victims whose bodies cannot be immediately identified.

“DNA samples of the missing persons are kept on record. The bodies are temporarily disposed of, and if someone later identifies a person as their relative, the authorities compare the DNA samples. The remains can be exhumed and formally identified only after a DNA match is established,” he said.

He said this is the protocol approved by the Nepalese Cabinet and that authorities in Kerala are following the same procedure.

The identification material may not necessarily be shared directly with NORKA and could instead be provided to the Australian Embassy, he said. NORKA officials will be informed if such material is shared with the embassy.

Most stranded Keralites returning home
Meanwhile, a 44-member group that had travelled to Kathmandu on a tourist trip reached Kozhikode by road from Bengaluru on Monday morning. The group had arrived at Bengaluru airport on Sunday night, where NORKA Development Officer Jayaprakash M K received them and facilitated their onward journey home.

Eight more members of a 23-member Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage group, which included 19 people from Kerala, reached Delhi on Monday. Eleven Keralites from the group had arrived in Delhi the previous day. They are continuing their journey to Kerala or to various Indian cities where they work.

A six-member team of doctors led by Dr Rekha Nair is also returning from Nepal. The team, which reached Kathmandu, is scheduled to travel to Delhi by air on Tuesday. Two members are expected to take an IndiGo flight from Delhi on Tuesday evening and reach Thiruvananthapuram around 11.30 pm.

Except for Dr Rekha Nair, the other members of the medical team are British citizens with family roots in Kerala.

NORKA Roots said information received through the four help desks set up in connection with the Nepal floods is being continuously verified. Duplicate entries are being eliminated and details updated as the verification process continues.