Neeral Patel despatched well-wishes to her cousin on his birthday final Wednesday, however she by no means heard again.
Her cousin Ishan Patel was in Nepal on the time, not removed from the border with China, the place a devastating flash flood ripped by means of the valley that very same day.
She’s calling for a wider worldwide response to assist in rescue efforts as the times tick by with no phrase on her cousin or the three relations he was travelling with.
“We need to give quite a lot of hope. However with every passing day, it’s simply getting chipped away, and time is of the essence,” mentioned Patel, who lives in Toronto.
Ishan Patel, centre, poses together with his spouse Akanksha Patel, left, and his mom, Shilpa Patel on this undated handout picture.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — Neeral Patel
Ishan Patel was travelling together with his spouse, Akanksha Patel, each twin Canadian-U. S. residents, alongside together with his mom, Shilpa Patel, and father-in-law, Umesh Patel, who’re Canadian, she mentioned.
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The 4 have been on a long-planned pilgrimage to Mount Kaliash forward of Ishan Patel beginning a brand new job as an orthopedic surgeon, after ending his fellowship in July, mentioned Neeral Patel.
“It was type of the large holy beginnings to his new profession.”
Row of our bodies of flash flood victims are laid for mass burial in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026.
AP Photograph/Niranjan Shrestha
The flooding on Aug. 26 killed greater than 1,100 folks and left roughly 4,400 lacking, after a glacier collapsed within the Himalayan border area between Nepal and China.
In Kathmandu, police have buried dozens of unidentified our bodies in trenches as a result of there are too many to maintain or determine individually.
The size of the catastrophe is hampering rescue efforts, as landslides and destroyed roads have minimize off distant areas.
Rescuers have been additionally racing to achieve a whole lot of hydropower employees trapped in tunnels.
Rescuers use earthmovers to achieve submerged homes after flash flooding alongside the Trishuli River in Nepal’s Nuwakot district, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026.
AP Photograph/Niranjan Shrestha
Overseas Affairs Minister Anita Anand has mentioned 30 Canadians and everlasting residents are among the many lacking — a quantity which will change as the federal government will get extra info.
With so many nonetheless unaccounted for, Neeral Patel mentioned relations have been left scouring the web, trying on Nepal police websites and lacking id websites to see if the names of any kinfolk come up.
She mentioned two relations have additionally travelled to Kathmandu to look in hospitals and anyplace else they will discover solutions, however the roads as much as the flood-hit space are closed.
Making the wait even more durable is that they know the place to go looking, she mentioned, as a result of her cousin’s telephone pinged from a spot a brief distance from Lodge Kailash, the place that they had breakfast final Wednesday.
“This is the reason we’re urging everybody to please, in the proper space, search as a lot as you’ll be able to, as a result of we’re coming as much as per week’s time and nonetheless no information,” she mentioned.
Ottawa mentioned Monday it has 10 authorities officers on the bottom in Nepal to assist Canadians affected by the flooding and assist find the lacking.
Patel mentioned International Affairs advised her household in regards to the group being despatched however they’re nonetheless holding out hope for a much bigger response.
“There ought to be a worldwide effort, everybody work collectively to attempt to convey our relations residence.”
© 2026 The Canadian Press
