Anukul and Reba Roy Poddar escape Mansarovar Yatra flash floods
Retired schoolteachers Anukul Poddar and his wife Reba Roy Poddar, a retired couple from Basirhat, West Bengal, had a close call during the flash floods in Nepal on August 26.
While on the Mansarovar Yatra with their group, their driver spotted water cascading down a hillside at a distance and quickly reversed to avoid danger.
Reba described the scene as chaotic: "We could see people running, children crying. That is when we realized something terrible had happened," while Anukul Poddar said, "We saw shops quickly downing shutters and schoolchildren running uphill,"
Poddars back via Birgunj, Mondals missing
The Poddars's group had to reroute through Birgunj instead of heading into Tibet as planned. Thanks to help from local authorities and police, they made it back home safely by August 30.
Sadly, another retired couple from Basirhat, Swapan Mondal and Mou Mondal, who traveled with a different group, are still missing after the disaster.