A family is searching for answers after an American traveling on a spiritual pilgrimage went missing amid a catastrophic Himalayan flood that has left hundreds dead and thousands unaccounted for.
Sunny Patel was watching viral footage of the torrent on the border between Nepal and China’s Tibet Autonomous Region when he realized his father, Jitendra Patel, could have been caught in the disaster.
TRAPPED NEPALI WORKERS PULLED FROM HYDROPOWER TUNNEL AFTER CATASTROPHIC FLOODING
“I watched the video and I just thought of how horrific it was. And then… probably 30 seconds later, it registered,” he recalled.
“I texted my mom, and she was hoping that we hadn’t seen the video. But of course, it was so viral by then… My mom responded and said, ‘That’s exactly where he was,’ actually.”
Sunny said he had last spoken to his father on Wednesday morning around local time, when he believed his father had already crossed the border from Nepal into China, though he has been unable to confirm the details.
The most frustrating part, he said, is the lack of information coming out of China. He added that his family has spoken to embassies in Kathmandu and Beijing, as well as the U.S. State Department.
DEATH TOLL FROM MUDSLIDES, FLOODING AT NEPAL-CHINA BORDER CLIMBS PAST 670; NEARLY 3,000 MISSING
They have filed missing person reports “with every agency we can think of, and some have been responsive.”
“We’re trying to go on these media segments and get the awareness out there that there are people on the Chinese side that we aren’t getting a ton of information about.”
Experts believe Wednesday’s mudslides and flash flooding across Nepal and Tibet were caused by a large chunk of ice breaking off a glacier and falling into the Lhende Khola River, which sent stories-high waves of rock, ice and debris hurtling through the mountain river systems.
Newly released figures say more than 600 people have been killed so far and more than 3,000 remain missing, with over 4,000 rescued so far.
AMERICAN CLIMBER’S REMAINS FOUND AFTER AVALANCHE IN PAKISTAN, OTHER MOUNTAINEERS STILL MISSING
That morning, Jitendra was with a group heading up to Mount Kailash — a place where thousands of people go every year on a spiritual pilgrimage, according to Sunny.
“They were actually supposed to be there the day prior and unfortunately had some car troubles from what we can make out… which, you know, of course, could be all the difference.”
Sunny said his dad “believed in the goodness of everybody, probably to a fault,” and “lived with kindness in his heart.”
“He always, always, always said, ‘God is good…’ If you called him and said, ‘How you doing?’ He would say, ‘I’m the best, God is great.’ And he was just the most upbeat, positive person I’ve ever met.”
Search and rescue operations were temporarily suspended on Saturday because of rain and heavy fog. Authorities are also monitoring two lakes upstream formed by the disaster, one of which was overflowing at times.
