28 Andhra Pilgrims Return Safely After Narrow Escape from Nepal Floods

A group of 28 pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh who travelled for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra have safely returned home after surviving a frightening flash-flood episode in Nepal, where raging waters swept through parts of a mountainous region with little warning.

The pilgrims had been stranded in Kathmandu for nearly three days because of delays in receiving Chinese visas. After the visas were cleared, the group left Kathmandu at around 6.30 am and travelled nearly 80 kilometres in about three hours before encountering the sudden floods near a small mountain village. Pilgrims said there had been no rain or even clouds, and villagers were going about their daily routine when a huge surge of water suddenly rushed through the river.

Several vehicles were swept away as the floodwaters intensified. The bus driver quickly stopped the vehicle, made a U-turn within minutes and drove towards higher ground. Passengers from other vehicles, local residents and schoolchildren were also moved to safety. A bridge near the village later collapsed, while houses and settlements along the riverbank were swept away.

According to P. Venkataramana, Managing Director of a Tirupati-based private travel agency, the 28 Andhra Pradesh pilgrims returned safely. Of the five buses that had left the hotel, two managed to turn back safely, while passengers from another flood-hit bus were rescued the following day. However, two buses carrying pilgrims from West Bengal were reported missing. Indian authorities and travel agency representatives remained in contact with the affected pilgrims.

The delayed Chinese visas may have ultimately saved lives. Pilgrims said some travellers from Delhi arrived on an 8 am flight instead of the scheduled 4.30 am flight. Without the visa delay, the group would have left Kathmandu at around 3 am and could have been in the flood-hit zone when disaster struck.

GT Naidu, part of an 86-member Isha Foundation group, said 26 pilgrims narrowly escaped near the Trishuli River bridge, with floodwaters just 50 to 100 metres from their bus. The driver moved them towards higher ground, also helping local residents near a school with around 1,500 students.

Meanwhile, seven people from Andhra Pradesh remain missing. A group including Bhaskar Shastri from Kurnool, along with three others, safely reached Nyalam County in China with 144 pilgrims and is expected to travel around 350 km via the Kodari border to Kathmandu on August 30, before flying to India on September 1.