33 British nationals missing as families rush to Nepal after catastrophic flash floods

On Wednesday, a wall of water tore through the Nepal-Tibet border region without warning. Flash floods, born from the collision of monsoon rains and mountainous terrain, thundered down valleys and obliterated entire villages in their path. By Friday morning, at least 538 people were confirmed dead across Nepal and Tibet. More than 1,500 remained missing. Among them were 33 British nationals, most of them pilgrims who had traveled to one of the world's most remote and spiritually significant places.

The missing Britons were scattered across multiple tour groups, each one caught in a different pocket of the disaster. Some were part of the Isha Foundation's pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar, Hindu and Buddhist holy sites in Tibet's high altitude. Sadhguru, the foundation's spiritual leader, reported that 80 members of one returning group had vanished, including nine British citizens. Others were with independent tour operators—Alpine Eco Trek, Fishtail Tours and Travels, Himalayan Glacier US, Kailash Journeys, Leaf Holidays, and The Trekkers' Society. One group of 12 Britons, aged 13 to 65, had been booked on a Mount Kailash expedition when the floods hit. Another 12 were traveling with Nabhi Nandan Das, a 64-year-old Hindu priest from Surrey who was leading a pilgrimage to the same sacred sites.

The families began their desperate scramble immediately. Relatives booked flights to Kathmandu, Nepal's capital, hoping to reach the disaster zone and search for their loved ones themselves. Bhupesh Bector, whose wife Leena, 53, from Slough, was among 27 unaccounted travelers with Fishtail Tours, told the Times he was booking the next available flight after the Home Office failed to confirm whether his wife was even on the official missing persons list. "Even if they find her today or tomorrow, I need to be there," he said. "She must be in trauma." Vikram Kolagatla, from London, had not heard from his wife, Geetha Reddy, since the floods swept through Hotel Kailash in Rasuwagadh. He was left managing two daughters, aged 12 and 14, whose schools were starting the following week. Tanay Ranjan told the BBC he had no idea whether his older brother Ankit Ranjan, 39, and sister-in-law Ankita Chandra, 35, had even crossed the border into Tibet before the water came. "We don't have a clue where they are," he said. "We are very much devastated."

Some families faced additional barriers. Neetu Goyal Tiwari, 51, was believed to be somewhere in China, last seen at an immigration centre on the Tibet-Nepal border. Her brother Naresh Goyal told the BBC that completing the pilgrimage had been her lifelong dream. Her nephew Anmol Goyal explained that the family, mostly based in India, was struggling to obtain visas to search for her. "We're not sure what the next second holds and what we should do from our end, because we're trying to reach everyone we can," he said. Manjula Atmakur, wife of Pravin Atmakur, an NHS psychiatrist who had been leading a group of 77 pilgrims, arrived in Kathmandu on Friday to search for her husband. She told the Telegraph she was disappointed by the British government's response to the disaster. Sunil Amin, from Croydon, described the "horrible, horrible feeling" of repeatedly calling his wife, Hema Amin, 63, who had been on a pilgrimage with Alpine Eco Trek.

The scale of the disaster extended far beyond the British missing. Hundreds of foreign tourists—trekkers and pilgrims drawn to the region for its natural beauty and religious significance—were caught in the floods. The disaster authority in Nepal and Chinese state media issued urgent warnings on Friday about the risk of a second wave of flooding. An artificial lake had formed after a mudslide struck the Tibet-Nepal border, creating what Chinese authorities described as a threat of "sending flood waters downstream." In Nepal, debris had blocked a river and created another rising lake at risk of bursting. Rescuers were forced to suspend their search operations. Residents who had returned to Rasuwa were ordered to evacuate, and many were seen fleeing up hillsides to escape a possible surge in the river.

Rajendra Pudasaini, a nurse in Essex and president of the Non-Resident Nepali Association UK, told BBC Radio 4 that his own godson had been found dead, buried under mud at his house. The association launched an emergency fundraising appeal on Thursday, raising more than £12,000 within hours. Pudasaini described Nepal as witnessing an "irreplaceable loss," saying the country was "paying the price for global warming." For the families of the missing British nationals, the waiting continued—separated by distance, by borders, by the sheer scale of a natural disaster that had swallowed entire villages and left thousands unaccounted for.