The last contact Radhika Sharma had with her parents was when they crossed from Nepal into Tibet. Her parents, Ramesh Sharma, 65, and Neelam Sharma, 64, reside in New York and are U.S. citizens. They embarked on a religious pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, a sacred mountain for Hindus, Buddhists, and followers of other faiths.
Shortly after crossing the border on Wednesday, a massive torrent of water, rock, and mud swept through the Himalayan region. Videos from the area showed people fleeing as debris engulfed buildings and vehicles, destroying towns and infrastructure. The event was likely caused by the collapse of a melting glacier, initially mistaken for a magnitude-4.4 earthquake.
Footage from Mailung in Nepal’s Rasuwa region showed construction workers descending a mountain path. They saw towering plumes of debris in the distance and quickly retreated uphill. One worker briefly paused to film before realizing the danger, shouting in Nepali: “Oh, my God, the flood is getting so big! Let’s run — run fast, guys! Oh, my God, get back quickly!”
By Thursday afternoon, authorities had retrieved 292 bodies, with 289 in Nepal and three in Tibet. Hundreds of individuals remain unaccounted for, and Nepal’s Tourism Board reported that 644 travelers, including 65 Americans, are missing.
Radhika Sharma’s parents were part of a group of seven on their journey to Mount Kailash, which thousands of pilgrims visit annually. Sharma, a doctor from North Carolina, described the past 24 hours as the most challenging period of her life as she anxiously awaited news.
“The hardest part is not knowing,”she said. She reached out to the U.S. embassies in Nepal and China and officials within the U.S., but had not received a response.
She posted pleas on social media, connecting with people in Nepal attempting to locate her parents. “I’ve given them my parents’ information, their photos. I’m waiting to hear that someone has seen them,”
she explained.
Sharma is not alone in her quest for information about loved ones. The State Department stated on Wednesday that it was “working closely with local authorities to locate and assist U.S. citizens in the affected areas,”
advising concerned relatives to contact its emergency line.
Before the disaster, the region was already remote and mountainous, complicating travel and communication. The flood devastated roads and disrupted power and phone networks, leaving families unable to obtain basic information.
In Baidur, Nepal, Shova Shrestha, 33, has also been waiting for news about her missing husband, Rajan Shrestha. Rescue efforts continue as she hopes for his return. “I keep looking at each helicopter, hoping he will step out of it,”
she shared.
Sagar Pandey, CEO of a tour company leading travelers from multiple countries, surveyed the destruction from a helicopter. “There are no human-made things, no human settlement left. Everything is just flat,”
he reported to Reuters.
Syed Sadique, running a tour agency in southern India, is anxious about 57 people traveling with his company, including his tour guide son, Sayed Umar Farook. He recounted how one group member reported a bus with about 20 people safely navigating the area, while another bus fell into a gorge.
Amidst the devastation, Sharma conveyed a heartfelt message to her parents: “I love you. I am looking for you. I will keep looking for you. I just hope you’re OK.”
She believes that wherever they are, they are undoubtedly more concerned about her and her brother.
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