Daughter traces missing mother's final location via TikTok before Nepal flood

On Wednesday morning, just before six o'clock, a tour guide in Nepal posted a TikTok video showing five people standing at Friendship Bridge, the crossing point between Nepal and China. Two of them were Hemangini Jitendra Patel and her sister-in-law Hema Sunil Amin, both from Milton Keynes. They were waiting to cross into Tibet. Hours later, a magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck near the border at 8:37 a.m. local time, triggering catastrophic flash floods that would sweep down valleys and obliterate entire villages across Nepal and Tibet. By the time the water receded, at least 675 people were confirmed dead. More than 3,000 remained missing.

Tulshi Patel, a pharmacist, had last spoken to her mother and aunt on Monday. She received a photograph of them on Tuesday. The GPS signal from their tour group placed them at Friendship Bridge. But it was the TikTok video—posted by their local Nepali guide—that gave her the most precise window into their final hours. The two women were supposed to have crossed the border on Tuesday, she explained, but weather delays pushed the crossing to Wednesday morning. They were on a pilgrimage they had been planning since the start of the year, something they had talked about constantly, a journey that sat high on their bucket list. Her mother and aunt were in good health, she said. They had prepared carefully. They walked regularly. They were strong and positive about the trip.

Among the 3,000 missing are 33 British nationals, including a 13-year-old, NHS workers, and a priest. Families across the UK and India are now caught in a desperate scramble to locate them, hampered by geography, visa restrictions, and the sheer scale of the disaster. Tulshi Patel has been messaging her mother and aunt daily through WhatsApp, hoping to see the read receipt that would signal they are alive. She has contacted the tour guide repeatedly, hoping he might have a local SIM card and a signal. She and her family considered traveling to Nepal to join the search themselves but decided against it, uncertain how close they could actually get to the affected region or how much help they could provide from there.

Neetu Goyal Tiwari, 51, was on her dream pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar, a high-altitude site in Tibet sacred to Hindus and Buddhists, when the floods struck. Her family, mostly based in India, has been phoning contacts in Nepal desperately trying to locate her, though they increasingly suspect she may still be in China. Her brother, Naresh Goyal, said the family is struggling to obtain visas to search for her themselves. Neetu's husband and daughter remain in the UK. "We're not sure what the next second holds," he said. "She was a very fun-loving woman and really had a great heart. I really hope she comes back soon."

Leena Bector, 53, from Slough, was among 27 travelers unaccounted for. Her husband, Bhupesh Bector, told the Times he was booking the next flight to Kathmandu after the Home Office failed to confirm whether Leena was even on its missing persons list. "Even if they find her today or tomorrow, I need to be there," he said. "She must be in trauma." Other families have already made the journey from the UK to the affected region, determined to search in person. A UK team is scheduled to arrive in Kathmandu on Saturday to assist with recovery and search efforts. But for families separated across multiple countries, with visa barriers and limited information about whether their loved ones are in Nepal or Tibet, the uncertainty remains suffocating. Each day, they call via WhatsApp. Each day, they wait for a signal that never comes.