Nepal floods: British husband's desperate search for wife lost in Himalayan disaster
A British truck driver from East Sussex has spoken of his anguish after his newlywed wife and three close relatives vanished in the catastrophic flash floods that have devastated Nepal, with the death toll now exceeding 700 and more than 2,400 people still unaccounted for.
Pramod Poudel, 34, last spoke to his wife Sumitra, 25, by telephone at 4.15pm on Wednesday, just hours before a glacier collapsed near the border with Tibet, unleashing a wall of water and mud that obliterated the village of Sole where she was staying with his family.
Her final words to him were simple and heartbreaking: 'How are you? I love you so much.' He has heard nothing since.
What happened in the Nepal flash floods?
The disaster struck on Wednesday when a glacial lake burst its banks high in the Himalayas, sending a torrent of debris crashing down mountain valleys. The village of Sole, in the remote region bordering China's autonomous province of Tibet, bore the brunt of the onslaught.
Pramod, who has since travelled to Nepal to join the search, told reporters: 'I'm very hopeful of finding them but I'm also praying to God.' Yet his hope is tempered by grim reality: he estimates that 90 per cent of people and homes in the area have been washed away, leaving very little of the village where his relatives had lived.
Also missing are his mother Tulisa, 52, his brother Pardip, 31, and his uncle Madhav, 64.
How many British nationals are missing?
The Foreign Office has confirmed that 33 British nationals are missing across the region. Chinese authorities report that 546 people are missing in Tibet alone, of whom 261 are foreign nationals. These include 15 British citizens, 18 Americans and 49 Indians.
Among those with links to the UK who have not been found are:
- An NHS nurse
- A Hindu priest from south London who was leading a tour in the region
- An 18-year-old from Surrey who had recently completed his A-Levels
- Two teenagers, a 13-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy
What has been the British response?
The United Kingdom has committed £5 million in humanitarian relief and deployed specialist teams to assist with rescue and recovery efforts. It is a measure of the scale of this tragedy that such resources are needed, and questions will rightly be asked about whether more could have been done to warn those in the path of the flood.
Why is this disaster so devastating?
The Red Cross estimates that some 90,000 people have been affected by the catastrophe. Residents have been evacuated from the banks of the Trishuli River as fresh rainfall caused water levels to rise, forcing rescuers to seek higher ground. Foreign experts are now working to open tunnels blocked by the flooding.
There have been further scares: a lake that formed on Thursday prompted fears of additional flooding but has since drained. However, drones have detected another pool of water in the Himalayas, according to China's state broadcaster CCTV.
Amid the devastation, there have been remarkable stories of survival. Guna Maya Bohara, a 97-year-old woman, was pulled from the rubble of her care home, which was destroyed in the flood. Her great-nephew Dipak said she looked like a 'warrior' returning from battle as emergency workers carried her to safety. She is now recovering in hospital.
What about the families left behind?
For those still waiting for news, the agony is unbearable. Geetha Reddy, a mother of two from London, is among the missing. Her husband said he has not heard from her since the flooding hit, and their two daughters, aged 12 and 14, refuse to accept what has happened.
He said: 'We're not sure what to do. I have two little girls, and their schools are starting next week. The kids still don't believe it. They think she's stuck in the flood and that she'll come back. They think she's stuck somewhere and there's no mobile network.'
It is a poignant reminder that behind the statistics are real families, real lives, and a grief that will take years to heal. As the search continues, Britain waits and prays for its missing citizens.