New York mother and daughter among Americans missing after Nepal landslide

A New York mother and her teenage daughter are among the 90 Americans currently missing in Nepal following catastrophic landslides and floods. Rekha Shashidharan, 54, and her 14-year-old daughter Rashi were on a trip when the disaster struck, leaving their family in a desperate search for information.

Rashi, an eighth-grader, had initially planned to undertake a solo Hindu pilgrimage. Her mother, Rekha, decided to accompany her daughter to ensure she wouldn't be traveling alone. The mother-daughter duo were reportedly in Kathmandu acclimatizing to the altitude before heading north towards the Chinese border with their tour group.

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We are hoping for the best because these kinds of things have happened earlier also, and we have seen cases where people have walked after three days, four days, five days.

The last contact the family had with Rekha and Rashi was on Wednesday morning, when they mentioned plans to reach an immigration checkpoint around noon that day. Tragically, within an hour of this conversation, a glacier broke, triggering the devastating flood that swept through towns and villages along the riverbank. Since then, there has been complete radio silence, with no further contact.

Family members, including Rashi's uncle Shekhar Agarwal, have been tirelessly calling every helpline and contact number they can find, but have received no concrete information. Many provided numbers do not work, and those that do offer no updates. Despite the lack of information and the harrowing circumstances, the family remains hopeful, drawing on past instances where individuals have been found days after similar disasters. "We are hoping for the best because these kinds of things have happened earlier also, and we have seen cases where people have walked after three days, four days, five days," Agarwal stated, emphasizing the need to remain hopeful.

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Right now, the only thing that you can do is be hopeful.