Families of missing pilgrims in Tibet demand answers from China

Ten days after a catastrophic mudslide struck the Tibet-Nepal border, families of missing pilgrims say they still have no clear information from China about their relatives.

Priyanka Choudhary, an Indian-born Finnish citizen returning from a Hindu pilgrimage in Tibet, was at a border crossing with Nepal when the mudslide hit. She is among 261 foreign nationals still missing in Tibet.

“

There is no information on the China side. We can't go to China and talk to anyone, so I'm not able to understand how things are. There is no update from China about what is happening at Ground Zero, what the situation is over there.

“There is no information on the China side,” her brother, Tarun Choudhary, said. “We can't go to China and talk to anyone, so I'm not able to understand how things are. There is no update from China about what is happening at Ground Zero, what the situation is over there.”

Other relatives described the same uncertainty. Naresh Goyal said his sister, Neetu Goyal Tiwari, a 51-year-old British national, was either safe, alive or dead, but the family had received no information from China. He said UK police visited the family home to collect a DNA sample from her daughter for Chinese authorities.

The mudslide killed more than 1,300 people and left more than 5,600 missing on both sides of the border. In Tibet, at least 31 people had been confirmed dead and 531 were missing, state news agency Xinhua reported.

“

We are not getting anything from China, whether my sister is safe or alive or dead.

China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the families’ accusations, victim identification timelines or DNA collection procedures. Beijing said it had briefed embassies representing 23 countries, described its flood information as “transparent and timely,” and said it was ready to work with other countries and agencies to identify the dead. It also sent DNA identification experts to Nepal, where authorities have regularly published information about the missing and dead and conducted DNA testing.

Diplomats who attended a briefing in Beijing said China gave no details about its plans for DNA identification. Diplomats also said China had not offered video from its side of the land port, including facial-recognition images, that could help families or assist identification. They spoke anonymously because their conversations with the foreign ministry remained private.

“

Transparent and timely