Anxious relatives crowded the corridors of a Kathmandu hospital as they searched for missing family after devastating floods on the Nepal-Tibet border killed at least 180 people.
Among them was Subash Khatani, scanning lists and speaking to officials in the hope of finding news of his elder brother, one of the hundreds unaccounted for after the disaster.
“My elder brother Ram Sharan Rasaili is among those missing in Rasuwa. That’s why we are out searching for him,” Khatani said yesterday at the government-run Bir hospital in the capital.
Chitra Bahadur Nepali was looking for his nephew Yubraj Sewak, a driver who had been travelling towards the worst-affected Rasuwa district before contact was lost.
“My nephew was on his way to Rasuwa and was in contact with my sister until about 8am yesterday (Wednesday),” Nepali, 52, said, showing his photograph on his phone.
“We have not heard from him since the flood. His name is not on any of the lists we have seen, and another member of our family is also missing.”
As rescue teams scoured for survivors in the flood-ravaged districts, families moved between hospitals and police helpdesks, desperately hoping for word on those missing.
The Bir hospital said it would treat all victims for free and was “fully prepared” to handle the surge in patients, local media reported. — AFP
