Many from Kolkata missing
A pall of gloom had descended in parts of Kolkata, Hooghly and other areas as more than 35 people, including the 32-member group, continued to remain on the missing list after a devastating flash flood hit the Nepal-Tibet border.
The pilgrims from Kolkata had left Kolkata on August 21 for Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra. According to sources in the travel agency, the travellers were at Rasuwagadhi at around 8 in the morning when the flash floods hit. “Since then we have not been able to establish contact with the members of the group,” that include two travel managers. About 133 Indians, many of whom were from Bengal, went missing after the mishap.
Some people from Chandannagar in Hooghly district and Barasat in North 24 Parganas were also missing, sources said. The number of missing persons could go further up as many people travel individually, sources said.
The ill-fated travellers were travelling through a travel agency operating from Kolkata. One of the officials of the group said that “two of our managers were carrying roaming facility and they had even contacted at about 8 pm… some travellers were also on Facebook Live… but thereafter contacts snapped… we were unable to get them through phone… and then we got the news of the floods hitting the area… we hope they are safe and have been rescued… we are also in touch with the family members of the travellers.”
“Our relatives were narrowly saved as they had left the area maybe a few hours ago,” said one of the members of a family from Durgapur that had gone to Nepal. This family was not visiting with the travel agency.
Sources at the State secretariat at Nabanna said the Government was in regular touch with the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu and the Nepal administration. “A team of our officers are likely to visit Nepal to assist the officials there in tracing our men,” Nabanna sources said.
Back at Kolkata Police headquarters, a toll-free helpline number — 1800-345-5678 — had been set up to assist and provide information related to the incident. This apart, people can also contact (033) 24793311 or 9147890181 for assistance, Government sources said.
