A millionaire family of four from Surrey, England, including a former Mrs. India UK, are among 33 British tourists missing following a severe flash flood in Nepal. The disaster occurred earlier this week along the Himalayan border between Nepal and China-controlled Tibet, leaving rescuers to sift through mud and debris.
The death toll in Nepal has risen to 469, with over 1,500 people reported missing across Nepal and Tibet combined. The Sahu family—Surabhi, 44, her husband Santosh, 46, their son Spandan, 18, and daughter Syna, 13—were on an adventure trek to Mount Kailash, a pilgrimage site for Hindus and Buddhists.
Surabhi Sahu, a former banker and beauty pageant winner, and her husband Santosh, a businessman who founded a pharmaceutical business, are well-known in their community in Cobham, Surrey, where they reside in a substantial home. The family was on a trip that began in India and included a trekking break in Nepal and Tibet. They were scheduled to return home within ten days.
The group, organized by Alpine Eco Tours, was last heard from as they crossed the border from Nepal into Tibet. CCTV footage captured a massive torrent of ice, mud, and rocks engulfing the Giyrong border crossing, with people seen fleeing for their lives.
Tour organizers have been attempting to reach the group since the disaster, with hopes that the tourists are alive and awaiting rescue. However, communication lines are down, and the mountainous terrain presents significant challenges for rescue teams.
Among the other missing Britons is Samitra Sapkota, 25, the wife of Pramod Poudel, a 35-year-old Briton who runs a Nepalese street food company in Sussex. Poudel last spoke to his wife on the morning of the flood, and she was in Sole village in the Nuwakot district, which has been severely affected. Poudel's mother, Tulisa, brother, Pradip, and uncle, Madav, are also missing, though his father, Purusottam, has been found alive. The couple had been married for only four months.
Sunil Amin of Croydon is desperately trying to contact his wife, Hema Amin, 63, who was also on a pilgrimage with Alpine Eco trek. Sarada Simkhada, 55, a senior nurse from Dartford, is also unaccounted for. She was staying at the Kailash Hotel in Timure, on the Nepal-China border, awaiting visa approval.
Leena Bector, 53, from Slough, and Nabhi Das, from Streatham in South London, are also among the missing. Bector's husband has flown to Nepal, while Das, a University of Kent graduate, has not been heard from.
Authorities have warned of potential further flooding from a barrier lake that formed upstream after the initial disaster. Security personnel and rescue workers have been placed on high alert.
Preliminary scientific investigations suggest the flood was triggered by a large glacier chunk breaking off and damming a river. The US Geological Survey reported a magnitude 5.2 glacier collapse. While a direct link to climate change is not yet established, scientists note that rising global temperatures increase the likelihood of such events, particularly in rapidly warming mountain regions like the Himalayas.