‘I knew I was going to die’: Indian-American couple’s terrifying Nepal flood escape
Anjana Raja and Pattabiraman Venkatesan were travelling towards the Nepal-China border on a pilgrimage to Tibet when the disaster struck near Timure. The couple later described their terrifying escape to CBS News.
Anjana Raja and Pattabiraman Venkatesan, a couple from the San Francisco Bay Area who were on a pilgrimage to Tibet. (Photo: AP/X/@CBSNews)
An Indian-origin couple from California thought they were going to die when a wall of water and debris surged towards their tour bus near Nepal’s border with Tibet. Anjana Raja and Pattabiraman Venkatesan were travelling towards the Nepal-China border on a pilgrimage to Tibet when the disaster struck near Timure. The couple later described their terrifying escape to CBS News.
The couple were among foreign travellers caught in the devastating flash floods that swept through the remote region, where hundreds of people remain missing and rescue teams are struggling to reach those stranded by damaged roads and infrastructure.
A drone view shows rescue workers inspecting the area and damaged structures following recent flash flooding along the Trishuli River in the Devighat area of Nuwakot district, Nepal. (Photo: AP)
Among those caught in the disaster were foreign nationals who had travelled to the region for work, trekking and pilgrimage. Roughly 80 pilgrims associated with the Isha Foundation were also reported unaccounted for, with organisers saying the group included people from 19 countries.
A sudden turn
Raja and Venkatesan had been chatting with other travellers on their bus and were not looking ahead when their driver suddenly turned uphill off the main road, Raja told CBS News.
"I knew I was going to die."
Anjana Raja and Pattabiraman Venkatesan, a couple from the San Francisco Bay Area who were on a pilgrimage to Tibet, told CBS News' @RamyInocencio that they had just passed Timure headed to the Nepal-China border when what looked like a tsunami… pic.twitter.com/2yRAEIHsTL
When she looked up, the driver, the guide and three other passengers near the front of the bus had already jumped out.
The bus door was open. Raja said her husband grabbed the driver by the collar and pulled him back into the vehicle so they could keep moving uphill.
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Then Raja looked ahead and saw what appeared to be a massive wall of dark, muddy water.
‘Like a tsunami’
Raja estimated the wall of water was around 60 to 70 feet high and said it appeared to be only about 50 feet from the bus.
Residents carry their belongings salvaged from their damaged homes filled with mud and debris in Devighat, in Nepal’s Nuwakot district. (Photo: AP)
For a moment, she was unsure what she was seeing. She said she initially thought it might be smoke or dust, or even a fire, before realising that floodwater was rushing towards them.
The couple ran uphill, scrambling higher as the water and debris surged behind them. A nearby police base camp was washed away as they watched.
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‘I knew I was going to die’
With the wall of water closing in, Raja said she was convinced she would not survive.
The couple continued climbing higher, putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the flood. They eventually reached a mountaintop, where they spent the night with other survivors in a goat shed.
The following day, the couple were airlifted to safety. Raja described their survival as nothing short of a miracle.
The disaster has left a large number of foreign nationals unaccounted for in the Nepal-Tibet border region, while rescue operations continue amid the destruction caused by the flash floods.
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Anjana Raja and Pattabiraman Venkatesan, a couple from the San Francisco Bay Area who were on a pilgrimage to Tibet. (Photo: AP/X/@CBSNews) 
