At least eight people from Assam have been rescued in Nepal, which was struck by a devastating flash flood on August 26, and are being brought back to the state, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
Published: August 31, 2026, 7:13 AM IST
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Nepal rejects India’s NDRF, US, China rescue teams despite nearly 500 deaths, says its own forces can handle flood operation (PTI image)
New Delhi: A group of 43 pilgrims from Maharashtra, including residents of Thane, returned on Sunday after being stranded amidst flash floods and landslides along the Nepal-China border during their Kailash Mansarovar YatraThe pilgrims, who had traveled through Rudra Tour and Travels, were stuck in the Timure border area shortly after crossing into China.
The floods washed away the hotel where they had stayed and some of its staff members lost their lives, one of the pilgrims saidPrakash Shantaram Mane, a Kalyan resident who had traveled with his wife Pratibha, expressed profound relief upon landing in Mumbai.
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What caused flash flood in Nepal? Earthquake, avalanche and Bhote Koshi River | All we know so far
“When we learned that the hotel, where we had eaten our breakfast a little while earlier, had been swept away along with its staff members, we were left completely numb,” he saidFollowing instructions from Chinese authorities, restrictions were placed on movement, leaving pilgrims from around the world stranded in Saga, he said.
Some of the pilgrims managed to establish contact with Abhijit Darekar, a close aide of Kalyan MP Dr Shrikant Shinde, he saidThe Emergency Control Room of the Maharashtra government and Thane District Collectorate was continuously tracking this group’s location, a local official said here.
Thane Resident Deputy Collector Sandeep Mane, Kalyan Tehsildar Vikas Gardukar and Kalyan Rural MLA Rajesh More maintained direct communication with the groupThe pilgrims, accompanied by nine Nepali tour staff, eventually returned to Kathmandu on August 29 before boarding a Nepal Airlines flight to Mumbai on Sunday afternoon.
Eight people from Assam rescued in Nepal
At least eight people from Assam have been rescued in Nepal, which was struck by a devastating flash flood on August 26, and are being brought back to the state, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma saidThe Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said nine more people from Assam are still missing in the Himalayan country.
The state government is coordinating with the authorities concerned to trace missing people and bring them back safely to Assam, Sarma said in a social media post on Saturday“I just spoke to eight people from Assam, who have been safely rescued in Nepal,” Sarma saidThe rescued persons — Pankaj Verma, Samar Bezbaruah, Gautam Das, Gopal Debnath, Soneswar Narzary, Sarbison Marak, Silva Marak and Elphison Sangma — are safe and will return home on Sunday, he added.
“Efforts are continuing to trace the others and ensure their safe return at the earliest,” the CM said.
Addressing a press conference later in the day, he said that search and rescue operations are going on in Nepal“The number of missing persons will be more than whatever list we haveIt is because many Assamese people are working in Nepal without providing any information to the state government,” Sarma said.
The Assam government, in association with the authorities concerned in Nepal and the Ministry of External Affairs, is expediting the process of identifying the missing people, he said.
