Malayalis on Onam trip stranded in Nepal return to Kerala
36 Malayalis, stranded in Nepal during their Onam holiday because of sudden flash floods and landslides, are safely back in Kerala.
After their route was blocked, they traveled around 100km from the Nepal border and crossed the border before reaching Gorakhpur Airport in Uttar Pradesh and split up for the journey home:
31 members arrived at Nedumbassery Airport at 2:30am on Sunday, while five from Kasaragod took a train from Bengaluru.
Survivors recount terrifying Nepal flood escape
Survivors described the experience as terrifying. Rajini said a temple visit delayed their trip just enough to avoid disaster: "Later we realized about disaster which happened about 500 meters away from us."
Former SI Pradeep Kumar recalled, "At first we didn't realized what was happening. The vehicles where stopped and local residents started to run toward the curve ahead of us. Later we went to look the scene and disaster reminded me of tsunami. Water level was so high and it sweeped all the trees and buildings. We stayed at the bus for hours and later at night we started to walk through woods. By midnight we got food and accommodation. Anyway we thank god for our lives," said Pradeep Kumar.
Vinaya kumar said, "The disaster happened on the Onam days. Ww where in middle of the trip. It was a horrendous experience. We where lucky to escape this disaster. The travel agency got us back to India securely. We faced some difficulties to find food at first. But the agency people helped us to move to an safe place later that day. By 3am in the morning we got a safe accommodation."
Meanwhile, Nepalese authorities have issued fresh warnings for areas near the Bhote Koshi River, urging residents and relief teams along downstream settlements to stay clear of flood-affected zones for now.