Canadian families still wait for answers a week after Nepal disaster

Neeral Patel sent birthday wishes to her cousin Ishan last Wednesday. He never replied. Ishan Patel was in Nepal with his wife, mother, and father-in-law when a devastating flash flood tore through a valley near the border with China.

The four had travelled on a long-planned pilgrimage to Mount Kailash. Ishan, a dual Canadian-U.S. citizen, was preparing to begin work as an orthopedic surgeon after completing his fellowship in July. His wife, Akanksha Patel, also holds Canadian and U.S. citizenship. His mother, Shilpa Patel, and father-in-law, Umesh Patel, are Canadian, Neeral Patel said.

“We want to give a lot of hope. But with each passing day, it’s just getting chipped away, and time is of the essence,” said Patel, who lives in Toronto. She is calling for a broader international rescue response as the family waits for news.

The flooding on Aug. 26 killed more than 1,100 people and left about 4,400 missing after a glacier collapsed in the Himalayan border region between Nepal and China. The scale of the disaster has complicated rescue work. Landslides and destroyed roads have isolated remote areas, while rescuers have been trying to reach hundreds of hydropower workers trapped in tunnels.

In Kathmandu, police have buried dozens of unidentified bodies in trenches because so many people died that authorities could not keep or identify each body individually. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said 30 Canadians and permanent residents were among those missing, though the number could change as officials gather more information.

Neeral Patel said relatives have been searching Nepal police websites and missing-person databases for names. Two family members travelled to Kathmandu to check hospitals and other possible locations, but roads leading to the flood-hit area remain closed. The family believes it knows where to search because Ishan’s phone last pinged a short distance from Hotel Kailash.

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We want to give a lot of hope. But with each passing day, it’s just getting chipped away, and time is of the essence.