Desperate Search for UK-Based Couple Missing Amidst Devastating Nepal Floods

A harrowing search is underway for a UK-based couple of Indian origin who have gone missing while on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash. The couple, Anal Kar and his wife, Sanjukta Kar, lost contact with their families during the catastrophic flash floods and landslides currently ravaging Nepal.

Anal, a chemical engineer, and Sanjukta, a teacher, have resided in the United Kingdom since 2001 and are parents to two children. Known for their deep passion for trekking, the couple had recently visited Kolkata to meet relatives before arriving in Kathmandu on August 18 to embark on their spiritual journey to Kailash Mansarovar.

The Last Message

The family’s hope now rests on a final, haunting update sent by the couple as the weather conditions turned lethal. According to Sanjukta’s father, Ranjit Dutta, the couple had been in regular communication, sharing photos of their journey as late as the night of August 25. They were scheduled to head toward the Nepal-Tibet border at 6:00 am the following morning to complete immigration formalities.

The last trace of the couple emerged at around 8:00 am on August 26, when Sanjukta sent a desperate message to a WhatsApp group of friends.

“She wrote that a landslide alert had been issued in the area and that they were trying to reach a safe location on foot as quickly as possible,” Mr. Dutta recounted. “After that, we have not been able to contact them in any way.”

A Region in Chaos

The couple was last tracked to the Timure area near the Nepal-Tibet border, a region currently grappling with the aftermath of severe flooding. The disaster has left hundreds of people missing and has cut off transit routes, leaving many, including high-profile professionals and tourists, unreachable.

The family’s attempts to reach the travel agency facilitating the trip have yielded no information regarding the couple’s whereabouts or safety status. In the wake of the silence, the family has reached out to local law enforcement, with a police team from Bhawani Bhavan visiting their residence to gather details for an official missing persons report.

Political figures, including Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal, Suvendu Adhikari, have reached out to the family to offer support and monitor the situation.

As rescue operations continue in the disaster-stricken border regions, the family remains in a state of anguish, praying for the safe return of the couple who were simply trying to reach a safe location before the disaster took its toll.