5 days ago
British Couple With Kolkata Roots Missing After Nepal Floods
Anal and Sanjukta Kar are a British couple with family connections to Kolkata.
They traveled to Nepal for a pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar.
They were last traced near Timure, close to the Nepal-Tibet border.
Floods began after an ice-rock landslide blocked a river.
Their children have not been able to contact them since a call with their mother was cut short.
The family has asked British, Nepalese and tour officials for help.
Officials say the flooded area is very dangerous and difficult to reach.
The family still hopes to learn what happened to the couple.
Anal Kar, 56, and Sanjukta Kar, 50, went missing during a Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage in Nepal.
The British couple reached Kathmandu from New Delhi on August 18 and was last traced to Timure on August 26.
They were part of an eight-day trek involving 31 people, including five tour-agency staff and tourists from several countries.
Their children contacted British authorities, the embassy in Kathmandu, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and Nepalese officials but received no confirmed information.
The tour manager and a Kathmandu district official said survival appeared unlikely amid extensive flooding, debris and restricted access, though the family continues hoping for news.
- Who
- British couple Anal Kar and Sanjukta Kar, whose children are Aratrika Kar and Sankhadeep.
- What
- The couple has been missing during an organized Kailash Mansarovar trek after flash floods in Nepal.
- Where
- They were last traced to Timure, near Nepal's border with Tibet; their family is in Kolkata.
- When
- They arrived in Kathmandu on August 18 and were last traced on August 26; the report was published on August 28.
- Why
- An ice-rock landslide blocked a river and triggered flash floods that disrupted communications and access.
Family's Hope
Officials' Assessment
Survival prospects
Family's Hope
The couple's children continue to hope for contact and are considering traveling to Nepal to help find them.
Officials' Assessment
The tour manager and a Kathmandu district official said survival appeared unlikely after four days of flooding, heavy debris and restricted access.
Search and information
Family's Hope
The family wants authorities to locate the couple and says it has received no confirmed information from British or Nepalese officials.
Officials' Assessment
The tour agency said it could not reach the affected area because access was restricted and rescue operations were being handled by defence personnel.
Key facts
- Missing people
- Anal Kar, 56, and Sanjukta Kar, 50
- Last known location
- Timure, near the Nepal-Tibet border
- Journey
- An eight-day Kailash Mansarovar trek
- Trek group
- 31 people, including five tour-agency staff members and tourists from Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, South Africa and Malaysia
- Tour operator
- Kathmandu-based Kailash Journeys
- Family response
- The couple's children traveled to Kolkata to stay with their maternal grandfather and may travel to Nepal
- Official assessment
- A Kathmandu district official said more than 450 bodies had been collected and described the couple's survival prospects as remote
Quotes
Eshor Raj Poudel
Joint secretary and chief district officer of the Kathmandu District Administration Office
“It’s been four days, and we are yet to get any information about the couple. I am perplexed. I did not inform our ailing father, but he got to know about it through TV news. Since then, he is very upset and unwell”
theprint.in
“I have been trying to get in touch with them, but could not get through to them. I spoke to her (mother) on Tuesday, but the call got disconnected, after which she texted me”
m.rediff.com
theprint.in
Sources
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