'Our parents were crossing the border an hour before the flood hit'

The daughters of a couple who vanished following a spiritual journey to Tibet are pleading for their safe return.

Hundreds of international citizens are anxiously awaiting news of loved ones believed to have been caught in the devastating flash flood and subsequent mudslide along the border between Nepal and Tibet.

Shreya and Ashna Ahuja are two sisters among many who are desperate for information about their parents, Deepak and Madhu Ahuja, who had traveled from Texas for a group pilgrimage to Mount Kailash.

The sisters expressed to the BBC that although only a single day had passed, it felt considerably longer, emphasizing their deep affection for their parents and their desire for them to come home. One of the siblings had spoken with their parents just prior to the floods.

Approximately 2,000 individuals are unaccounted for, including visitors from the United States, Australia, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom. Nepali authorities have reported over 575 fatalities.

On Thursday, the State Department indicated that around 90 American citizens might have been affected by the flooding, confirming that five Americans in Nepal had successfully reached safety.

The Ahuja sisters have reached out to the State Department and US embassies in Delhi, Nepal, and China, but they report having received no definitive information regarding their parents' whereabouts.

This area is revered as a sacred destination for both Hindus and Buddhists, drawing tens of thousands of pilgrims annually.

Radhika Sharma's parents, Ramesh Sharma, 65, and Neelam Sharma, 64, who are US citizens residing in New York City, were also making their way to Mount Kailash in the Kathmandu region when the catastrophe occurred.

This pilgrimage marked their first independent trip since their retirement the previous year.

Radhika Sharma informed the BBC that she is actively trying to locate them but currently has no answers. Sharma typically maintains frequent communication with her parents, often exchanging text messages multiple times throughout the day.

She stated that the last known update was that they were at the border at 8 AM, roughly an hour before the floods began, and she holds onto hope that they successfully crossed into Tibet.

Sharma, who has been in contact with the US embassies in Beijing and Kathmandu, noted that no one possessed any information.

She has also connected with other Americans facing similar circumstances, forming a network to offer mutual support and consolidate shared information.

At least 77 individuals affected by the disaster were part of a pilgrimage organized by the Isha Foundation, an Indian-based non-profit organization that also maintains a facility in McMinnville, Tennessee.

Leslie Crespi, a community liaison for the Foundation, informed the BBC that the group was in an earthquake-resistant building near the border, processing immigration documents, when the water surged through.

Ramesh Sharma, aged 65, and Neelam Sharma, aged 64, two American citizens from New York, have been missing since the flood hit.

Prabhath Sajeepa, another American citizen who disappeared after the flood, was among the 77 people traveling with the Isha Foundation.