Tsunami from mountains: Rescued Tamil Nadu pilgrim recalls Nepal flood horror

For 21 pilgrims from Tamil Nadu, the sacred journey to Kailash Mansarovar turned into a terrifying fight for survival as they watched the Himalayas unleash a wall of water and debris, with one survivor recalling the monstrous flash flood as a "tsunami falling from the mountains".Twenty-one pilgrims from Tamil Nadu, caught in Nepal’s devastating floods, returned home on Friday carrying harrowing memories of the disaster and a deep sense of relief at having survived.What began as a pilgrimage through one of the world’s most majestic mountain landscapes quickly turned into a terrifying battle for survival for 21 pilgrims from Tamil Nadu travelling towards Kailash Mansarovar, when devastating flash floods tore through Nepal’s Rasuwagadhi region on August 26.“It felt like a tsunami falling from the mountains,” one survivor recalled, as torrents of water, mud and debris came hurtling down the slopes, sweeping away roads, buildings and everything in their path. The pilgrims were forced to abandon their journey and scramble up steep, rugged terrain to escape the advancing waters, witnessing the Himalayan landscape around them transform into a scene of destruction within moments.The destruction was particularly severe in Rasuwagadhi and Timure region, near the Nepal-China border, where the market area was swept away.Among those caught in the disaster were women from Tamil Nadu's Tiruchirappalli, Vallinayaki and Karpagam, who were travelling by bus towards the Chinese border when a massive landslide struck. They recalled seeing a thick, smoke-like cloud of mud, rocks and debris rushing down the mountain. With no immediate help available, the 21 passengers escaped through the driver’s side and began climbing a steep mountainside.When some of the women struggled to climb, they used a sari to pull one another up, eventually reaching a rescue centre after nearly two-and-a-half hours. The group was part of a larger contingent undertaking the sacred Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and was brought back to India safely on Friday after the disaster. Another rescued pilgrim from Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam, said the floodwaters came within 100 metres of him. Describing the situation as “very serious”, he said, “God helped me” survive the ordeal.The pilgrims credited the Nepal Army and local authorities with bringing them to safety. They were taken to Kathmandu before travelling to India via New Delhi, reaching Chennai on an Air India flight on Friday night, where they were reunited with anxious families.External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met the group in Delhi and said the pilgrims had been rescued by the Nepal Army from a “very difficult place”. The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu subsequently facilitated their return.Their safe return came as India continued efforts to trace nationals affected by the disaster. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said 320 Indian nationals remained “uncontactable”, while around 100 people of Indian origin were also yet to be reached.MEA also said that contact had been established with around 400 Indian citizens on the Chinese side, all of whom were safe. "We are doing everything possible to ensure the safety of our Indian citizens and providing all possible assistance to Nepal as per their request," MEA spokesperson Jaiswal said.India has also sent humanitarian assistance to Nepal, including food, medicines, blankets, solar lamps and other essential supplies.Meanwhile, Nepal’s flood toll climbed to 626 on Saturday, with 2,426 people still missing, according to the country’s disaster authority. The number of missing people rose significantly from 1,924 reported on Friday night, while the number of unaccounted foreign nationals remained unchanged at 517, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.The updated figures came three days after the floods tore through parts of Nepal, as search and rescue operations continued across the worst-hit areas.- EndsPublished By: Shipra ParasharPublished On: Aug 29, 2026 12:37 IST