MONTREAL- The federal government has confirmed in its latest update that 32 Canadian citizens and permanent residents are among the missing in the Himalayan border between Nepal and Tibet.
Speaking during a Zoom news conference Friday, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said no Canadian deaths have been confirmed following the disaster that wiped out villages in the region. Consular officials are on the ground in the remote area.
“They’re very much in touch with officials from the government, with the trekking and hiking companies, and with the organizations,” says Anand.
“This in order to ensure that Canadian aid is disbursed and in order to ensure that we are actually getting any information necessary about these 32 individuals that we can share with their families.”
The missing Canadians’ families are growing increasingly desperate for information. Couple, Shubakshi and Sumit Rawla travelled from their home in Coquitlam, B.C. to Tibet’s Mount Kailash for a pilgrimage.
Their daughters Parnika and Kenisha say they have called their parents’ cell phone at least a hundred times since the massive wave of mud and debris crashed through the region.
“All we’ve been doing is calling people in Nepal, hospitals, the Canadian government,” says Kenisha Rawla. “We’re just not able to get a concrete answer. And it’s really worrying us because it has been three days and obviously it is worrying us. We just want to know if our parents are safe.”
They were last in touch with their parents less than three hours before the disaster, connecting on a quick FaceTime chat.
“I just hope that the Canadian government can help us find our parents. I don’t know what to do without my mom and dad, and so I just hope that I’ll meet them soon, “ says Parnika Rawla.
“I just hope that the Canadian government will do everything in their power so that we can get back to our mom and dad.”
Anand said that 579 bodies have been recovered and that 1,924 people remain missing. Of those missing, 527 are foreign nationals.
The region is popular with tour groups visiting Mount Kailash, considered a sacred site for many cultures and a space for meditation. About 1,000 people had joined a trek with spiritual organization ISHA. The organization says a tour group of nearly 80 is now missing, among them are 12 Canadians. Ten are from the Toronto area, one from Montreal and another from Ottawa.
They had last checked in at 9:05 a.m. from an immigration centre at the border in the Gyirong Port area. Images that have circulated worldwide show the catastrophic flash flood crashing through the centre at 9:14 a.m.
“It has been incredibly difficult and as you can imagine, for the families, it is unimaginable,” says ISHA’s Community Liaison Leslie Crespi. “The last we learned from local sources is the area was hit by great force, and the area is buried under tons of debris, right now.”
Crespi says ISHA has a team of people stationed on the Tibet side of the border, about 25 kilometres from the site. They are in touch with authorities and front-line teams of the government to gather information. She also says ISHA has volunteers worldwide who are trying to support the families of the missing.
“Our volunteers are going to homes supporting people, talking to them, making phone calls, bringing food, whatever it is that we can do, to support them,” says Crespi.
Ottawa is also providing $5 million in urgent humanitarian aid to the region, expected to help provide supplies like blankets, hygiene kits. Initial estimates suggest approximately 100,000 people are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, including food, clean water, and shelter.
