Families descend on Nepal in search of missing tourists

Desperate families of missing foreigners were clinging to hope as they combed hospitals and morgues in search of clues, a week after catastrophic floods tore through Nepal's Himalayan border region.

Outside Kathmandu's tourist police headquarters, Sanjeev Rai was trapped in agonising uncertainty.

The 53-year-old American flew to Nepal after learning that his wife, Jiwan Jyoti, was untraceable while returning from a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, the sacred peak revered by Hindus and Buddhists.

"The day I arrived I said, let's find a helicopter, I'm going to look for her," Rai told AFP.

But Timure, the village in Rasuwa district where she was when disaster struck, remains inaccessible and dangerous.

"I feel desperate, it's been so many days," he said.

Jyoti, an engineer at Intel, had embarked on the journey as a spiritual quest and an adventure to mark her 50th birthday.

Now Rai says he has all but abandoned hope of finding her alive.

"I'm no longer counting on survivors. I just hope the DNA samples will match. I want to be able to mourn."

The August 26 flood has become one of the deadliest disasters to hit the Himalayan nation in recent years.

The huge wave of debris has killed more than 1,200 people and left more than 4,750 missing in Nepal and China's Tibet region, smashing towns, roads, bridges and multiple hydropower dams.

According to Nepali police, some 294 foreigners have been rescued, most of them Chinese and Indian nationals.

But 583 foreigners remain unaccounted for, many of them pilgrims who had spent months preparing for the demanding trek around Mount Kailash.

Among them are 77 pilgrims from spiritual leader Sadhguru's Isha Foundation, including Europeans, North Americans and Australians.

Several of their relatives have travelled to Kathmandu seeking answers, assisted by volunteers from the Foundation.

"We go to the Nepali police every day to get information on those who have been rescued. We examine photos... published by the police," said volunteer Arun Mehta.

Others spend their days visiting hospitals.

But all the members of the group, including three Nepali guides, remain missing till now, Mehta said.

"They had completed their pilgrimage around Mount Kailash and were going through immigration procedures" at the Gyirong border crossing with China when disaster struck, he said.

The foundation has provided identifying details to authorities, including distinctive snake-shaped rings and pendants worn by many pilgrims.

Nepal police began collecting DNA samples from relatives this week to build a database for identifying bodies, while families overseas will be able to submit samples in their home countries.

Thousands of kilometres away in Russia's far east, some relatives are making plans to join the search in Nepal.

From Yakutsk, the brother of missing musician Kirill Tretiakov, said he would travel to Nepal within days.

"For the moment, we have no information about Kirill," he told AFP. "We hope his group survived but ended up without any means of communication."

Tretiakov was travelling with a group of Russian and Ukrainian pilgrims organised by the travel agency Tashi Delek.

"We will start our search with the hospitals. No matter how long it takes, we will keep looking for him."

Another trek organiser Fishtail says it has lost contact with a group of 20 pilgrims, mostly Malaysians, who were travelling with guides and drivers.

"No one could escape, it was so sudden," said Nimsang Gurung, a sales representative with the company.

As search efforts continue, officials fear the disaster will have a big impact on tourism, a major source of revenue for the country.

"The tourism sector is going to suffer from this disaster," said Sunil Sharma of Nepal's National Tourism Agency, even though "only four districts" were directly affected.