In the high borderlands between Nepal and China, where pilgrims seek liberation and hikers pursue the world's most ancient trails, a flash flood and landslide struck without warning on a Wednesday morning, killing at least 160 people and swallowing the certainty of five New Zealand lives. The missing — a woman hiking with friends from Australia, a Hamilton couple marking a half-century of life, a pilgrim walking toward a sacred mountain — were each on journeys of meaning when the earth gave way. Their families now inhabit the particular anguish of not knowing, reaching across distance and sile
Five New Zealanders Missing After Devastating Nepal Flash Flood
Five New Zealand citizens missing and presumed at risk following flash flood and landslide that killed at least 160 people in Nepal-China border region.
Realisations slowly setting in as every hour passes
Mark
What was the timing like? Did anyone have a chance to get out?
Mimi
That's what the families are clinging to. Kinnari Patel sent a message at 5:30 in the morning saying they were leaving for Kerung. The earthquake hit at 8:37. If they actually left when she said, they had a three-hour window. But no one knows for certain.
Mark
And the others—Suhasini and Dejan—were they in the same area?
Mimi
Suhasini was in the Dhunche area heading toward the border. Dejan was at the border crossing itself with a pilgrimage group. Both were in the path of it, or very close to it.
Mark
What kind of trip was Suhasini on?
Mimi
A hiking trek, 15 days long. She was on day four with friends from Australia. She'd been living there for four years. She left her youngest son with her parents in India before the trip.
Mark
And Mihir and Kinnari—they weren't just tourists, were they?
Mimi
No. They own a dairy in Hamilton. They'd taken time away to celebrate Kinnari's 50th birthday. Their son said it was like a pilgrimage for them too, visiting the mountains.
Mark
What about Dejan's pilgrimage—was that different?
Mimi
Very different. He was on the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, a sacred Hindu pilgrimage to Mount Kailash. It's meant to cleanse sins and bring spiritual liberation. He was with the Isha Foundation's group.
Mark
So five people, three different reasons for being there, all caught in the same disaster.
Mimi
Exactly. And now their families are waiting for any information at all. Some are hoping their loved ones managed to leave before it hit. Others are just hoping.
The Pulse
- A flash flood and landslide obliterated the Nepal-China border region on Wednesday morning, killing at least 160 people and leaving five New Zealanders unaccounted for among hikers and pilgrims caught in its path.
- Families are suspended in a silence that grows heavier with each passing hour — no confirmed sightings, hotel staff unable to provide check-in records, WhatsApp messages that stopped mid-journey.
- A single 5:30am message from Kinnari Patel — 'Leaving for Kerung' — offers her son Drishya a fragile thread of hope, since the earthquake struck more than three hours later and the couple may have already cleared the danger zone.
- Dejan Kuzmic, on a sacred pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, was believed to be near the border crossing at the time of impact, while Suhasini Reddy's family cannot even confirm whether she had checked out of her hotel.
- MFAT is in contact with families but has little to offer — the search continues in a remote and devastated region where information itself has become a casualty of the disaster.
In the high borderlands between Nepal and China, where pilgrims seek liberation and hikers pursue the world's most ancient trails, a flash flood and landslide struck without warning on a Wednesday morning, killing at least 160 people and swallowing the certainty of five New Zealand lives. The missing — a woman hiking with friends from Australia, a Hamilton couple marking a half-century of life, a pilgrim walking toward a sacred mountain — were each on journeys of meaning when the earth gave way. Their families now inhabit the particular anguish of not knowing, reaching across distance and silence for any signal that love has survived catastrophe.
Five New Zealanders have disappeared in the wake of a catastrophic flash flood and landslide that tore through the Nepal-China border region on Wednesday morning, killing at least 160 people. The disaster struck without warning, catching hikers and pilgrims mid-journey. Families across New Zealand and Australia are now waiting for any word about whether their loved ones survived.
Suhasini Reddy, who has spent four years living in Australia, was hiking with friends through the Dhunche area on a 15-day trek when the disaster hit on day four. Her brother Rajeev had spoken to her the night before — she was excited, everything was fine. Since the floods, nothing. The hotel where she was expected cannot confirm whether she checked in or out. "We really don't know," Rajeev told RNZ.
In Hamilton, Mihir and Kinnari Patel had traveled to Nepal to celebrate Kinnari's 50th birthday. Their son Drishya last heard from his mother at 5:30 in the morning — a WhatsApp message sent from Timure reading simply, "Leaving for Kerung." The earthquake struck at 8:37am. If his parents left when that message was sent, they had a three-hour head start. Drishya, a medical student who sat an exam the following day, is holding to that possibility. "Realisations slowly setting in as every hour passes," he said, "and I don't hear anything, and no one knows anything."
Dejan Kuzmic was on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash — the peak revered by Hindus as the dwelling place of Lord Shiva — as part of the Isha Foundation's Sacred Walks group. A family friend believes he was near the border crossing when it was struck. The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra carries profound spiritual weight: devotees believe completing it can bring moksha, liberation from the cycle of rebirth. Kuzmic was walking toward that liberation when the earth gave way.
Families have contacted New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, but information remains scarce. The waiting continues — measured in unanswered messages, in departure times that may or may not have aligned with survival, in the hope that five people found themselves, by chance or by schedule, just far enough ahead of the flood.
Five New Zealanders have vanished in the aftermath of a catastrophic flash flood and landslide that tore through the Nepal-China border region, killing at least 160 people. The disaster struck without warning on Wednesday morning local time, catching hikers and pilgrims in its path. Families across New Zealand and Australia are now waiting for word—any word—about whether their loved ones survived.
Suhasini Reddy, who has spent the last four years living in Australia, was somewhere in the Dhunche area when the ground gave way. She was hiking with a group of friends from Australia, guided by Kailash Journeys Guides, on what was meant to be a 15-day trek. The disaster hit on day four. Her brother Rajeev last spoke to her the night before, while she was still in Kathmandu. "She was all good, excited," he said. "She had this trip planned for a while." Before leaving, Suhasini had visited her parents in India, where she left her youngest son; her other boy was with family in Australia. She was supposed to meet Chinese immigration officials around 11 in the morning. Since the floods, nothing. When Rajeev contacted the hotel, the person in charge said she wasn't there and couldn't provide information about who had checked in or out. "We really don't know," Rajeev told RNZ. "We've contacted the hotel, the person of contact says she's not there, and at the moment he can't provide any information regarding the checkouts and check-ins."
In Hamilton, Mihir and Kinnari Patel were supposed to be celebrating a milestone. The couple, who own the Best Value Urlich Ave Dairy, had traveled to Nepal to mark Kinnari's 50th birthday. They had been away for about a week. Their eldest son, Drishya, spoke to his father the day before the disaster. Everything was going well, he said—the couple was enjoying themselves. The last message came through on WhatsApp from his mother at 5:30 in the morning, sent from Timure. "Leaving for Kerung," it read. The earthquake that triggered the floods struck at 8:37 in the morning. If the Patels left when that message was sent, they would have had a three-hour head start. Drishya is holding to that possibility. "As long as like they actually did leave when my mum sent me that message, I'm hopeful," he said. "These guys tend to run things on time, these tour guides." But he hasn't heard anything to confirm it. He is a medical student who had an exam on Thursday. "I don't think I've processed it," he said. "Realisations slowly setting in as every hour passes, and I don't hear anything, and no one knows anything."
Dejan Kuzmic was on a different kind of journey—a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, the sacred peak revered by Hindus as the dwelling place of Lord Shiva. He was part of the Isha Foundation's Sacred Walks pilgrimage group, traveling toward the mountain when the disaster struck. Nepal's Tourist Police confirmed his name to RNZ. A family friend, Seyed Sepehr Hosseini, whose mother attends a meditation group with Kuzmic, explained the significance of the journey. "He was part of the Isha Foundation's walk group S3 and was at the border crossing, which was hit quite heavily within a reasonable time, which makes us believe he may have been involved," Hosseini said. The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, as the pilgrimage is known, holds deep religious and cultural meaning. Hindu devotees believe that completing the pilgrimage and bathing in Lake Mansarovar can wash away a lifetime of sins and bring moksha—liberation from the cycle of rebirth.
Families have reached out to New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, but information remains scarce. Drishya Patel said MFAT told him they don't know anything either. The waiting continues, measured in hours without contact, in messages that don't come, in the slim hope that departure times aligned with survival. Five New Zealanders remain unaccounted for in a region where the ground itself became an instrument of catastrophe.
Notable Quotes
She was all good, excited. She had this trip planned for a while.— Rajeev Reddy, brother of missing Suhasini Reddy, recalling their last conversation
As long as like they actually did leave when my mum sent me that message, I'm hopeful. These guys tend to run things on time, these tour guides.— Drishya Patel, son of missing couple Mihir and Kinnari Patel
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Climate & Environment