B.C. couple missing after catastrophic flash flooding on Nepal-Tibet border

A British Columbia couple, Dhaval and Megha Shah, are among those missing following catastrophic flash floods and mudslides that devastated a border region between Nepal and Tibet. The disaster, triggered by a massive collapse of ice, mud, and rock into a mountain river, has claimed at least 390 lives and left over 1,400 people unaccounted for as of Thursday evening.

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So the Hotel Kailash, from what we understand, is like about 1.5 km from the checkpoint, so they were somewhere in that location and, you know, the (tour) company lost contact with anybody at around 8:30 that morning, so we don’t know where they have been since then.

The Shahs were on a tour in the Timure region and were last known to be at the Hotel Kailash. Their cousin, Nikita Shah, expressed the family's anguish and desperation to find them, stating they had breakfast at the hotel before potentially heading towards the border checkpoint. Contact with anyone at their tour company was lost around 8:30 that morning.

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We’ve obviously contacted them, called them, we always get the generic response: we don’t know anything, we’ll let you know when we have some more information, you know, and that while it’s easy to say that, some real concrete information would be really helpful.

Nikita Shah has been actively seeking information through various channels and has appealed to the Canadian government for assistance. She noted that the federal government has confirmed 30 Canadians are missing in Nepal and the Tibet region, an increase from previous reports. The family is struggling with the generic responses received and is hoping for more concrete information.

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When it’s your loved one, who doesn’t want to be hopeful?

Despite the grim situation and the images circulating, the family is holding onto hope. Nikita Shah mentioned that her cousin, Dhaval, is a Navy captain, and she hopes his training might have helped him ensure their safety. The family is praying for a miracle and continuing their efforts to locate the couple, for whom a missing person poster has been created.

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We love you guys and we hope you’re okay and we’re going to pray for some miracle and we are just going to keep working on it.