5 days of silence: Indian families await word on loved ones missing in Nepal floods

From Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh to Madhya Pradesh, families have been contacting embassies, government authorities and rescue teams, tracking every available lead and, in some cases, checking recovered bodies in the hope of finding their relatives. In Mumbai, Siddharth Kuvavala is still wearing a.

Chohan, 48, an Indian-origin US citizen from Tennessee, was in Pasang Lhamu, Nepal, on August 26 when the floods struck. It was her second visit to Nepal for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, and she was travelling with a group of 50 people through Himalayan.

What Happened

Her family has been able to establish her last known location through a tracker in her bag. Shital's husband, Chetan, is in Tennessee and is in touch with US authorities, while her brother has travelled to Baroda to be with their elderly.

• When relatives tried calling them, none of their phones connected.

• The following day, news of the floods triggered concern.

• On August 25, Ragini spoke to her brother Praveen Dwivedi over the phone and told him that they had completed the darshan at Pashupatinath and were preparing to leave with their group for the.

Key Details

Shital had called her parents to Kathmandu and asked them to stay with her for a few days before she began her journey towards Mansarovar. Her parents have since returned to Baroda, but the family still has no clear information about her.

• The family had first travelled to Nepal and visited Pashupatinath Temple.

• Ragini, a resident of P Road in Kanpur, had travelled with her husband Pankaj Mishra and her sister-in-law Poonam Mishra.

• The families are waiting for information about the two young men's safety and have appealed to the Indian government and Nepal authorities to trace them and bring them back safely.

Why It Matters

We don't have much knowledge about Shital’s whereabouts. In Uttar Pradesh's Maharajganj, another family has spent days trying to trace a relative who disappeared in the same disaster.

• A video from Vishesh's camp, reportedly sent by his engineer to his brother Vivek Rajput, shows him running on a road as the disaster unfolded.

• The two had reportedly reached Nepal for work through a company based in Mandideep.

What Reports Say

Coverage of the story so far points to:

• Continued reporting by India Today as more details emerge