Erode couple missing in Nepal amid deadly flash floods

Tamil Nadu intensified efforts to rescue residents stranded in flood-hit Nepal, while an Erode family sought information about an elderly couple missing since Tuesday. The couple had travelled to Kailash on August 14, and their son has headed towards Kathmandu

Erode (Tamil Nadu): The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday intensified efforts to rescue residents stranded in Nepal following deadly flash floods, as relatives appealed for their safe return. Amid the disaster, an elderly couple from Tamil Nadu’s Erode district is suspected to have gone missing in Nepal.According to their son Kavinraj, his parents – Natarajan (67) and Krishnaveni (56) of Vellode village, about 12 km from Erode – had left for Kailash on August 14 through a private agency based in Chennai. He said he was in touch with his parents till Tuesday morning but could not reach them by phone through Wednesday afternoon, a gap of over a day.

He suspects they may have been affected by the flash floods and mudslides in the region. It could not be immediately confirmed whether the couple is among those already reported missing in the disaster.

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Kavinraj said he had contacted the Tamil Nadu government and the agency concerned but was yet to get any concrete information, and left for Chennai on Wednesday, en route to Kathmandu.

The death toll in the massive flash floods in Nepal rose to at least 162 on Thursday, with scores, including security personnel and foreign tourists, still missing, as one of the country’s worst disasters in recent years swept away properties in three districts.

Rescue and relief operations continued in flood-ravaged Nepal, with affected families in the worst-hit districts struggling for food, shelter and access to relief.

The flash floods, which struck on Wednesday, were triggered after an avalanche blocked the flow of the Lhende tributary of the Bhotekoshi river, first hitting Timure, near Nepal’s border with China at Rasuwagadhi, the Kathmandu Post reported.