Families of people missing after devastating floods in Nepal are waiting anxiously for news at TU Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu.
Holding up a photograph on her mobile phone, Ram Kumari Shrestha said her husband had been travelling to Rasuwa for work as a driver. “This is my husband. He was heading to Rasuwa as part of his driving duties. He was in touch with me until 8pm yesterday,” she told the BBC.
“But I couldn’t call him this morning. His phone was switched off,” she added.
Mani Shrestha Vishwa also spent Wednesday night at the hospital, hoping for updates about his brother, cousin, uncle and friend.
“The last time I contacted him was at 8:30 in the morning,” he said.
Trekking guide Sonam Dorje narrowly escaped the flooding in her home village of Rashiwa Shahr, leaving about an hour before the disaster struck at around 8am local time.
While travelling to Kathmandu, Dorje told the BBC that she heard floodwaters rushing into the village.
“It sounded like an earthquake. Houses collapsed, and I saw the pictures,” she said.
Dorje said her sister, Dechen Tamang, was missing along with her husband and several other family members.
She described the Nepal floods as “sudden and devastating.”
“Many survivors are now homeless and urgently need rescue and evacuation, food, temporary shelter and medical assistance,” she said.
Dorje is praying that her sister will be found alive. “We’re hoping there’s a 10% chance,” she said.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk