Days following a devastating surge of water that swept through Nepal’s Timure region, relatives of two Metro Vancouver couples who are missing are frantically seeking updates about their whereabouts. Among the thousands unaccounted for after the flash flood on August 26 are Port Moody couple Dhaval and Megha Shah and Coquitlam couple Sumit and Shubakshi Rawla, with the death toll currently standing at a minimum of 676 individuals.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand confirmed on Saturday that one of the 32 Canadians reported missing in Nepal has been found safe, though the individual has not yet been identified. Vikram Khosla disclosed that his cousin Shubakshi was in the vicinity preparing for a pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet as a special 50th birthday present to herself.
The couple, who are citizens of Singapore and relocated to Canada approximately four years ago, have two daughters. Dhaval’s brother Kheval Shah, speaking from Mumbai, India, mentioned that the couple was staying at Hotel Kailash near the border on the morning of the flood. The family’s last contact with them was during breakfast, just moments before the calamity struck.
While expressing hope that the missing couples are safe, Khosla and Shah highlighted the urgency for more information from Nepalese authorities regarding search efforts. Shubakshi’s siblings have traveled to Kathmandu to aid in locating their loved ones, emphasizing the need for a centralized platform offering real-time updates for families awaiting news on missing individuals.
Canada has pledged $5 million in immediate humanitarian aid for Nepal, with the funds slated to assist organizations like the Red Cross in providing aid to those impacted on the ground. As of Saturday afternoon, over 3,700 individuals have been rescued, but 2,426 people are still unaccounted for, underscoring the ongoing crisis in the region.
