32 Canadians unaccounted for after Nepal flash flooding; B.C. couple among missing

On the morning of August 26, a guided pilgrimage group in Nepal lost all contact with the outside world. Among those who vanished were Sumit and Shubakshi Rawla, a couple from Coquitlam, British Columbia, along with their traveling companions Dhaval and Megha Shah from Port Moody. The flash flooding that swept through the region that day has since claimed at least 579 lives, with thousands more still unaccounted for across Nepal. The Rawlas and Shahs are now part of a larger accounting of loss: 32 Canadian citizens and permanent residents whose whereabouts remain unknown.

Their daughter, Kenisha Rawla, has spent the days since the disaster in a state of desperate searching. She and her sister have made more than 200 phone calls to their parents, each one a small act of hope—a chance that a moment of cellular signal might allow them to hear a voice, to know that someone is alive. "We've been so worried," she told reporters. The uncertainty is its own kind of torment. The tour company lost contact with the group around 8:30 that morning, and since then, nothing. No word of where they are, whether they are sheltering somewhere, whether they are injured, whether they are at all.

The scale of the disaster has become clearer as reports filter out from Nepal. The destruction is visible even at the country's main border crossing into China, where mud and debris have buried the landscape. Further inland, entire communities have been cut off from the outside world. Tamara Demuria, the chief humanitarian officer for Corus International, described the severity plainly: rescue teams cannot even reach some areas to assess what remains. The damage extends far beyond what initial reports suggested.

Canada's response has been measured but limited. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand emphasized on Friday that while 32 Canadians are unaccounted for, no Canadian deaths have been confirmed—a distinction that offers little comfort to families still waiting. The federal government has committed $5 million in humanitarian aid and is sending five consular officials to Nepal to assist with the search and coordination efforts. But for families like the Rawlas, it is not enough. Kenisha Rawla has called directly for Canada to deploy dedicated rescue teams to the region. "We really want to push the Canadian government to help by sending rescue teams," she said, "because we know there's so many Canadians there too, and their families must be worried sick like we are."

For those still waiting—separated from loved ones by geography and disaster—the path forward is unclear. There are few concrete actions available to families beyond making calls that may never connect, searching for information in a landscape of uncertainty, and drawing strength from community. Gaurav Subedi, with the Nepal Cultural Society of British Columbia, spoke to what sustains people in such moments: emotional support, the presence of others who understand the weight of not knowing. He offered a final thought, almost a prayer: "Miracles do happen." Whether any will occur for the 32 Canadians still missing depends on conditions on the ground in Nepal, the reach of rescue efforts, and time—a resource that grows more precious with each passing hour.