A helicopter, stolen phone, frantic road journey: How 4 UP men escaped Nepal floods

The six were flown to a cantonment area, where they completed the necessary formalities before hiring a vehicle to travel to Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. Ashutosh reached his hometown of Mureri Gadwa village on Monday.

For families across Uttar Pradesh, the wait for news from relatives stranded in Nepal has begun to ease.

The Uttar Pradesh Relief Commissioner’s emergency helpline received calls regarding 22 people in Nepal who couldn’t be reached by their families. Families of 10 of them have since told authorities that their relatives are home and safe, an official said.

Some were evacuated with the help of the Nepal government and officials stationed there, while others made their own way back.

The Indian Express spoke to those who made it home about the fear, uncertainty, and scramble to get out of the country.

Krishna Pratap Singh. (Special arrangement photo)

‘I was afraid the borders could be sealed’

Krishna Pratap Singh, 45, had travelled from Aligarh to Nepal on August 21 in search of work.

Five days later, the floods hit.

“I was terrified after hearing that a large number of people had been killed and property damaged just a few kilometres from where I was staying. There was a huge rush in Kathmandu, with people from outside the city struggling to find a way back home. There was no local government official or organisation to help us,” said Singh, who works in the wood business.

He said he tried to contact his family but couldn’t reach them.

“I decided to return… The family with whom I was staying also pressured me to go home. I was also afraid that the borders could be sealed,” he said.

Singh said Nepalese authorities later flew him to the India-Nepal border, from where he travelled by road and entered India.

The trail of devastation left behind in the riverside town of Betrawati in Nepal on Sunday. Betrawati is also on the main route used by pilgrims travelling to Gosaikunda, a pilgrimage site in Rasuwa. (Express photo by Tashi Tobgyal)

‘Come back home immediately’

On August 27, when Raj Kumar Gautam, 44, finally managed to call his family in Maharajganj from Kathmandu, they had only one thing to tell him: Come back home immediately.

Gautam had been working with a local contractor involved in making wooden furniture in Kathmandu for the past year. He has been travelling to Nepal for work regularly for the past two decades.

He said panic had spread across Nepal after reports of flooding and widespread damage emerged. “There was chaos. Phone calls were not going through and even the WiFi was not working. I knew my family would be worried, and I was desperately trying to contact them to tell them that I was safe.”

Gautam said people had rushed onto the streets, desperately looking for any possible way to leave Nepal. “I somehow managed to find a vehicle carrying other passengers and made my way to Maharajganj via Bihar,” he added.

“When I finally reached home, my three daughters and son surrounded me, relieved to see me back,” said Raj Kumar, a resident of Jagannathpur village in Maharajganj.

A photograph of a family lies amid the debris as search operations intensified. (Express photo by Tashi Tobgyal)

‘His cellphone had been stolen’

For Deepak Gupta’s family in Bareilly, the fear began when his phone stopped connecting.

The 33-year-old travels to Nepal for six to seven months every year to sell artificial jewellery and gemstones sourced from Delhi. He was in Kathmandu when the floods hit.

“We became worried when we could not reach him on his phone,” said his elder brother, Vijay Gupta.

The next day, Deepak managed to call.

“He said his phone had been stolen amid the rush and panic. He was in Kathmandu,” said Vijay.

“I asked him to return home immediately. He came back two days ago along with four others.”