Spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev has expressed anguish over a devastating flash flood near the Tibet-Nepal border and said 77 members of an Isha Foundation Kailash pilgrimage group remain unaccounted for after the disaster struck the Gyirong area in Tibet. The Spiriitual leader who is in Tibet said he was unable to trave to the location of the disaster as all roads were blocked.
“With a profound sense of pain and regret, I wish to bring to your notice that there has been a terrible flash flood between Tibet and Nepal border. And on the Nepalese side, as per the Indian news reports, about 484 people have gone missing. And on this side, we don’t have any official information. Morning I left to go there personally and all phones are off, all telecommunications are down, roads are blocked, we are unable to go there,” he said.
“One of our groups… the S3 group that we met at Saga and also met them when we were trekking up they were coming down, of which, 22 are from the United States, 12 from Canada, 11 from Australia, 9 from the United Kingdom, 4 from Germany, 3 from France, 3 from Nepal, 2 from Netherlands, 2 from New Zealand, 2 from Singapore, 2 from Spain, one each from Finland, Hungary, Israel, Lithuania, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, and South Africa. A total of 80. And also this includes 34 male and 46 female participants and a few other volunteers who were camped in the nearby hotels… three volunteers and one doctor. Looking at the scale of destruction, it looks bad. This same building where we were for the immigration just a week ago, that entire building is washed away. And part of that town is washed away. We still don’t know the other numbers. All communication is down so we have no way,” he added.
Sadhguru said his team were working with the Chinese and Indian embassies in Nepal to send a group of people to help with the rescue efforts.
“This is a terrible and an extraordinary event which unfortunately has turned out this way. Well, we don’t have any numbers as such but the overall numbers could be anywhere around 1,500 plus. And many of the Nepali guides who were with us, their families were there… how many of them we do not know yet. But on that side is 484, that’s what they’re saying. This side there’s absolutely no information but that town where we entered, almost half the town is gouged out of the valley…We are doing everything possible. We are seeking permission through the Indian embassy, the Chinese embassy in India and the American embassy is working on this to see if they can permit me and a group of people to be there and see what we can do,” he said.
According to Nepal, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), 165 bodies have been recovered from the flood-affected areas so far and the identification is ongoing. 44 Nepal Army personnel, 28 Nepal Police personnel, and 13 Armed Police Force (APF) personnel working in the affected area and various police posts are reported missing. According to the Nepal Tourism Board’s preliminary data, a total of 579 travelers (466 foreigners and 113 Nepalis) are missing from the affected area. 123 individuals have been rescued by air from Timure, Rasuwa, including 94 Nepalis and 29 foreign nationals.
On Wednesday, a massive flood carrying debris occurred in the Lhende Khola due to a glacier collapse approximately 20 km northeast of the Rasuwagadhi border point on the Nepal-China border. The flood entered the Bhote Koshi river from the Tibet side and flowed through Rasuwagadhi, Timure, and Syaphru Besi into the Trishuli river. This has created a critical risk and emergency situation in the coastal areas of the Trishuli river across Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha, and Chitwan districts. Preliminary estimates suggest a heavy loss of life and property at various locations along the riverbanks.
Following the disaster, Nepal Army and private sector helicopters have been mobilized to intensify search and rescue operations in Rasuwa and Nuwakot.
Temporary shelter, food, clean water, and medicine have been arranged for the flood victims at nearby Nepal Army barracks. The NDRRMA says the current top priorities are the immediate rescue and treatment of the injured, searching for missing citizens, ensuring security and relief distribution for the affected, and collecting detailed damage reports. Priority is also being given to the reconstruction of blocked physical infrastructure (roads, bridges, hydropower, communication, and water supply) and the safe relocation of displaced families.
