Bhubaneswar: An NRI couple from Odisha went missing after devastating flash floods in Nepal a day ago, and efforts were being made to contact them, officials said.
Pritish Panda, who has been appointed as the nodal officer to extend support to distressed Odia people in Nepal, said Sandeep Mohapatra and his wife Sidharthi Kumari Sahu, who are originally from Odisha’s Khordha district and have been settled in Australia since 2018, have been missing since the flash floods hit the Himalayan country.
“We are trying to establish contact with them, but have failed so far. Their mobile phones were found switched off,” Panda told PTI.
Apart from the couple, the authorities concerned received calls about a football team from Bhubaneswar visiting Nepal.
“The players’ family members were in distress because their mobile phones were found unreachable Wednesday. Today, we contacted their coach. They are safe,” he said.
The football players and their coach are in Pokhara, which is about 200 km away from the flood zone, Panda said, adding that efforts are underway for their safe return.
A Puri resident Rakesh Ranjan Panda, and his two associates, who were in Nepal Wednesday, entered India this morning, the nodal officer said, citing a report of the Ministry of External Affairs.
The death toll in the massive flash floods in Nepal rose to 177 with the recovery of 12 more bodies as the authorities in the neighbouring country on Thursday race against time to find thousands of missing people, including 300 Indian tourists, in one of the country’s worst disasters in recent years.
The flash floods Wednesday wreaked havoc across three districts in Nepal.
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