23 missing, 18 of them NRIs: Gujarat families’ wait for a call from Nepal

SUSHILABEN PATEL, 82, is unsure whether her son, daughter and daughter-in-law are missing or in an 'out-of-network' zone. She hopes it is the latter. Holding their photos in a frame, she has been praying hard since August 26, when her daughter Meenaxi Ramani last called to say that they had cleared immigration for the Kailash Mansarovar journey and would be out of reach.

After that, she watched the videos of the devastating flash floods in Nepal. Her son Paresh Patel, 58, his wife Jyoti, 54, and Meenaxi, 61 are among the 23 people with roots in Gujarat who are missing. According to a list compiled by the State Emergency Operation Centre on Friday, of the 23 missing, 18 are NRIs, including the Patels.

Why the Nepal floods are a warning for the Himalayas, and India Among the 18 NRIs, there are citizens of the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, many of whom were travelling to Kailash Mansarovar through the Kerung route. Sushilaben last met her son and daughter-in-law on her husband Natvarlal's death anniversary last year.

Paresh is settled in Florida, US and has a son Rushabh, who is in college. Meenaxi, her eldest of four children, lives in Mumbai. Sushilaben lives alone in Surat. She has written to the Nepal Embassy, the Government of India and the Gujarat government, requesting information on the whereabouts of her family members.