TORONTO — The video is hard for Anoop Misra to watch, but he says he’s seen it countless times anyway: a wall of water slamming into the grey building along the Tibet-Nepal border.
He says his wife, Swati Bagrecha, was inside that border-crossing building with dozens of other foreigners when Wednesday’s flash flood engulfed the area.
“It was at the tail end of the trip,” Misra said. “She said, ‘it was amazing experience. I have never experienced something like this.’ She was very happy. So, I’m happy that she was happy.”
Bagrecha had just completed a 14-day pilgrimage to Nepal and was supposed to return to India, where the couple’s 13-year-old-daughter is visiting relatives. Misra is now en route to India as the family awaits updates.
Misra says his wife’s phone is still ringing; he only calls it once a day to preserve its battery. The family is holding on to hope that Swati will soon answer it.
“Lots of thoughts come in my mind. I kick them away, especially the negative ones,” Misra said. “I’m keeping the positive thoughts in my mind. And I’m pretty much sure we will be together very soon.”
Global Affairs Canada says at least 30 Canadians and permanent residents are among the more than 1,000 people missing in the remote area of Nepal. Hundreds of people have been killed, with officials in Nepal and China cautioning the death toll will likely rise.
Keval Shah says he last spoke to his brother and sister-in-law, Dhaval and Megha Shah of Port Moody, B.C., on Sunday.
“We are just waiting for news to come in that they were rescued, that they somehow managed to escape the water,” he said. “But unfortunately, we haven’t heard any news.”
Rescue efforts are underway, but the region is remote, and the damage so extensive that it has been a challenge to access certain areas.
“They have to go through all the mud which has been accumulated,” Shah said. “Finding people in that is going to be difficult.”
Scientists believe the flash flood was caused by a glacier breaking off high in the Himalayas, which triggered a torrent of water and debris to rush down stream, flooding villages in its path.
“The magnitude of this disaster is truly mind blowing,” said Anurag Maloo, a mountaineer and founder of The Voice of Glaciers Foundation, which raises awareness about the impact of climate change on glaciers.
He says it’s too early to know the extent of the damage caused by this flood, and cautions the entire area is unstable, as further flooding may occur.
“Further breakdown of glacier might come in days to come, so a lot is unfolding.”
With files from CTV News’ Kristen Yu
