- Adhikari, 41, is one of about 130 pilgrims who were near the Gyirong border crossing between Nepal and China when the floods struck.
- Pandey last spoke to his wife at about 7am on Wednesday from Sydney; she had finished a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash with the Isha Foundation and was excited to return.
- At 9am, her iPhone's last location tracker data was recorded near the border about 10 minutes after impact; she was standing with the Isha Foundation group in the immigration centre when the flood hit, and the building was completely washed away.
- On Thursday, Pandey flew to Nepal; late Friday night, the family friend called to say it was not Adhikari on the list of survivors, but a different local person, and the search goes on.
- The rescue effort is hampered by remoteness and destruction: roads and bridges washed away, area flattened to mud, and rescuers can only helicopter in; on Friday, rescue teams from China and Nepal had to stop after a landslide.
- Nava Pandey had hoped the search for his wife was over after Nepal’s disaster management agency released a name almost identical to his wife, Sumi Adhikari, who went missing with 40 other Australians in the catastrophic flood.
- The name matched only by last name, and without address or nationality, Pandey and family made calls and someone drove to verify.
- On Friday night, a family friend drove more than two hours from Kathmandu to the Nuwakot district, where the main emergency holding and rescue centre is located near the flood zone.
- On Friday, rescue teams from China and Nepal had to stop after a landslide, and Chinese rescuers reported the area obliterated.
Nava Pandey flew from Sydney to Nepal after hearing a name similar to his wife, Sumi Adhikari, on a survivor list. Adhikari, 41, was among about 130 pilgrims near the Gyirong border when catastrophic floods struck.1
“She was really happy,” Pandey recalled of their last conversation before the disaster.
The flood hit shortly after 9am, obliterating the immigration center where she was located.
Despite hopes, the name matched a local, not Adhikari.
The search continues as rescue efforts face challenges due to the remote location and destruction.
Roads and bridges have been washed away, complicating access for rescue teams.
“As far as the eye could see, there was [destruction],” said rescue worker Zou Mingqi.
The Nepali army is expected to begin a ground search as efforts from China and Nepal have been hampered by the conditions.
“The search goes on,” Pandey stated, as he remains hopeful for news of his wife.4
“Sumi Adhikari, 41, was among about 130 pilgrims near the Gyirong border crossing when the flood hit; her iPhone's last location was recorded 10 minutes after impact. Rescue efforts are hampered by washed-out roads and bridges, with teams only able to helicopter in, and a landslide forced a halt on Friday.”
The Guardian
