’53 people of Indian origin’: Isha Foundation gives demographic breakup of unreachable group amid Nepal flash floods

KATHMANDU: Maa Gambhiri, coordinator at Isha Sacred Walks, gave a demographic breakup of the group of people left unreachable amid the devastating flash floods in Nepal, claiming that more than 50 women and people from 19 countries were part of the group of 77 pilgrims, including 53 people of Indian origin.

Gambhiri said, “There were more than 50 women, and the rest were men… There were people from 19 countries, including the US, Canada, Australia, Europe, the UK, and Asian countries… This was our group of foreign nationals… 53 people of Indian origin were in this group”.

Gambhiri also said the situation witnessed on Wednesday was unlike anything the group had experienced before. “We have certainly seen minor incidents, small things like a minor landslide that would get cleared up within 12 to 24 hours… But what we witnessed today is something we have never seen before. It is beyond imagination what happened on Wednesday,” she said.

#WATCH | Nepal: On several pilgrims and volunteers of Isha Foundation’s Sacred Walks (Kailash Mansarovar Yatra) missing or stranded in Nepal amid the flood situation, Maa Gambhiri, Coordinator at Isha Sacred Walks, says, “We haven’t been able to establish contact yet because… pic.twitter.com/1M4qGHFXJP

— ANI (@ANI) August 26, 2026

Several pilgrims and volunteers of the Isha Foundation’s Sacred Walks, who had completed the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and were returning to Kathmandu, remain uncontactable amid the catastrophic flash floods in Nepal, with the foundation saying it is awaiting information from authorities.

Maa Gambhiri said that the Isha Foundation has been unable to establish contact with the group after the floods disrupted communication networks.

“We haven’t been able to establish contact yet because there was a massive flood. All communication lines are down, and we cannot reach anyone on the ground. We are just waiting to hear back from the authorities with some information… hoping to find out something by tomorrow morning,” Gambhiri said.

She said the group comprised 77 pilgrims who had reached an immigration centre after completing their pilgrimage and clearing Tibetan immigration before beginning their return journey to Kathmandu. “We have 21 groups travelling to Kailash Mansarovar this year. Many have already successfully completed their pilgrimage, while others are currently en route, and some are just about to start,” Gambhiri said.

“This specific group had already finished their journey and was heading back to Kathmandu this morning after clearing Tibetan immigration. There were 77 pilgrims who had reached the immigration centre. The group leader was named Praveen,” she said.

Gambhiri said a member of the Isha team had spoken to the group leader at around 9:05 am, but contact was lost minutes later. “One of our team members spoke to him at 9:05 am. However, when we tried to contact him again ten minutes later, we couldn’t get through to him or anyone else. It seems the incident occurred within those ten minutes,” she said.

“We had no prior information or inkling that anything was amiss; everything seemed completely normal during our conversation, and this happened quite suddenly… There was no warning, no indication; nothing was communicated. This accident happened suddenly,” Gambhiri added.

At least 157 people have been killed, and nearly 400 remain missing after devastating flash floods struck Nepal’s Bhotekoshi river on Wednesday, with foreign nationals and security personnel among those unaccounted for, The Kathmandu Post reported.

The mid-morning flash flood wreaked havoc across three districts, sweeping away people, homes, vehicles and critical infrastructure in one of Nepal’s deadliest disasters in recent years. According to CNN, citing the Nepalese police post on X, at least 157 people have died in the devastating flash floods. (ANI)