Family searches for civil servant missing after Nepal glacial flood

Timure, Nepal. The family of 21-year-old civil servant Ayush Khadka searched for four days after floodwaters triggered by a glacial collapse tore through Nepal’s Rasuwa district. The disaster has killed at least 939 people and left about 4,000 missing.

Search efforts

Khadka’s relatives were among thousands of families seeking information after an unprecedented deluge of ice, rock, mud and debris swept through valley towns and villages in Nepal and across the border in China.

Ayush had spoken with relatives on the night before the flood. His social media account appeared to show him online the following morning, giving the family hope that he had survived.

After reports of widespread destruction emerged on August 26, relatives began searching for him. His paternal uncle, Ganesh Khadka, spent two days near the Nepali Army’s Maithali Barrack in Nuwakot, a main coordination point for rescue and recovery operations near the affected area.

Ganesh said he repeatedly provided officials with Ayush’s name, workplace and last known location in Timure but received few answers.

Road access disrupted

Relatives also tried to reach Timure, where Ayush had been stationed and which was severely affected by the flooding. The town was hundreds of kilometres from the family home in Salyan district, but destroyed roads prevented access and private helicopters had been requisitioned by the government for rescue operations.

Ayush’s maternal aunt, Laxmi Thapa, searched in Chitwan, about 200 kilometres away, where bodies swept downstream by the flood were being recovered.

Body identification

Authorities had recovered a body believed to be Ayush’s on the day of the disaster, although most family members were unaware at the time.

On August 27, Thapa visited a temporary holding centre where photographs of recovered bodies were displayed on a television screen for relatives to identify. One image drew her attention.

“I was about 70% sure it was him,” she said.