Published Aug 29, 2026 | 9:00 AM ⚊ Updated Aug 29, 2026 | 9:00 AM
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar received the survivors at the airport.
Synopsis: For 21 pilgrims from Tamil Nadu, who reached New Delhi from flash flood-ravaged Rasuwa district in Nepal, their escape was nothing short of a miracle. They recounted how they escaped the surging waters by climbing a nearby hill. Survivors described the desperate rescue, including a woman who used her saree to pull elderly pilgrims to safety. Many others, who travelled with them, are yet to be found.
The catastrophe struck fast, and many were too scared and numb to react.
From the bus that miraculously remained on the road, a group of pilgrims from Tamil Nadu watched in horror as the savage fury of water swept away other vehicles,
“When the flood surrounded us, our bus was the only vehicle that remained where it was. All the other vehicles around us were being swept away. After some time, we escaped one by one through the driver’s seat and clambered up a nearby hill,” Manimegalai recalled the horror to South First.
Not everyone in the group managed to escape to safety at the first attempt. The older among them could not climb the hill. Then the six-meter-long fabric came to the rescue. A quick-thinking woman in the group undraped her saree and threw one end to the people stuck downhill,
“When some of the elderly people among us could not climb, a woman untied her saree, threw it down and pulled them up to safety,” she said.
More than 100 of the nearly 250 Indians caught in the devastating Nepal flash floods on 26 August were from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
Twenty-one of them were rescued and brought to Delhi on Friday, 28 August.
Related: Isha says pilgrims had seconds to escape
Several Indians had travelled to Nepal for various purposes, including the 13-day Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage, when the devastating floods struck. The whereabouts of several people remained unknown following the disaster.
A glacier collapse triggered the flash flood.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, 288 Indian nationals in Nepal were yet to be contacted.
A significant number of those affected were from Tamil Nadu. This included 56 people who had travelled through a private travel agency based in Kumbakonam and another 49 who had travelled through a Chennai-based travel agency, taking the number of Tamil pilgrims affected to more than 100.
In addition, the whereabouts of 80 people associated with the Isha Yoga Centre, too, remained unknown.
Related: They dreamt of the Himalayas, but Nepal gave them a nightmare!
Thiagarajan, from Chidambaram in Cuddalore district, was among those rescued and brought back to what he termed “a rebirth”.
“Around 9 am on 26 August, we were travelling by three buses near the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa district. Suddenly, the floodwaters surged. We were terrified and climbed a nearby hill to escape,” he said.
Manimegalai from Mayiladuthurai said they remained in the bus for some time.
“We stayed in the vehicle for some time. Then I saw other vehicles around us being swept away. Of our three vehicles, the one I was travelling in was the only one that remained in place,” she said.
The 21 passengers then hurried up a nearby hill in the Timure area, climbing to a height of around 15 feet to escape the rising waters.
It was then that one of the women stepped in and saved those who could not climb the hill.
Related: The human cost of Nepal’s worst flash flood
After reaching higher ground, the passengers walked several kilometres to the nearest Armed Police Force camp.
“We were provided with all the necessary facilities there. The Nepal government also provided us with medical treatment,” Manimegalai said.
The group was later flown by an Army helicopter to Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital. On 28 August, they were brought from Kathmandu to Delhi.
Related: Hyderabad family appeals for information on woman missing in Nepal floods
The rescued passengers said they were received at the Delhi airport by Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Tamil Nadu Ministers Aadhav Arjuna and A Rajmohan, and BJP Tamil Nadu president Nainar Nagendran, among others.
“Jaishankar, Aadhav Arjuna, Rajmohan and Nainar Nagendran came to receive us at the airport. We were very happy,” Thiagarajan said.
However, the survivors said they were worried about those who travelled with them.
“Although we have been rescued, we still do not know what happened to the other passengers who travelled with us. That is very painful and distressing. Somehow, by God’s grace, we have survived,” Manimegalai said.
The 21 survivors said they had been informed that officials were continuing efforts to locate the missing people and that more information about their whereabouts was expected soon.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
