Sadhguru oversees rescue ops as 77 Isha Foundation pilgrims missing in Tibet floods

On Wednesday, August 26, a flash flood swept through the Gyirong area in Tibet, catching 77 pilgrims from the Isha Foundation at an immigration center as they made their way back from a pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar. The group had been part of a larger expedition organized by the foundation—21 separate groups totaling 1,266 people—and were in the final stages of their journey when the disaster struck. The building housing the immigration office, along with much of the town itself, was inundated by the sudden surge of water.

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, the spiritual leader who founded the Isha Foundation, announced on Wednesday that he was personally present in the region to oversee rescue operations. In a statement posted to social media, he described the event as "terrible and tragic," noting that the pilgrims had been caught at the immigration office during their return journey when the flood occurred. He acknowledged that as of that moment, there had been no official word on the status or location of those who were inside the building when the waters came.

The scale of the expedition underscores the scope of the displacement. Of the 1,266 pilgrims who had set out, 495 had already returned safely by the time of the flood. Another 743 were still in Tibet, 148 were in Nepal, and three volunteers were in Timure, Nepal. The 77 unaccounted for represented those caught at the immigration checkpoint—a bottleneck in the return process that proved catastrophic.

Sadhguru said his organization was working with local authorities to reach the affected area and was prepared to participate in rescue efforts "regardless of the risk involved." He addressed the families of the missing directly, saying he shared their pain and that the foundation was "sparing no effort during this profoundly difficult time." His personal presence in the region was framed as a commitment to ensure that everything possible was being done under the circumstances.

The disaster extended far beyond the Isha Foundation group. Flash floods in the Bhote Koshi River struck Nepal's Rasuwa district on the same day, leaving several people confirmed dead and hundreds more missing across the broader region. The scale of the catastrophe prompted India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi to contact his Nepali counterpart, Balendra Shah, to offer condolences and to pledge India's readiness to provide humanitarian assistance to the affected nation. The floods had transformed a routine border crossing into a site of mass displacement and loss, with rescue operations still underway and the full extent of the damage not yet known.