Vigil held at west London temple for victims of ‘traumatic’ Nepal flood
903 deaths have been recorded since the flood last Wednesday.
Dozens of people have attended a vigil in west London to honour the victims of a devastating flash flood in Nepal.
The gathering in Hounslow on Monday evening saw members of the Nepali community and others light candles outside the Laxminarayan Temple.
It comes after Nepal’s disaster agency said that 903 deaths had been recorded there since the flood last Wednesday, with more than 4,000 people missing in total.
"Heartbreaking"
Among the attendees of the vigil, Rajendra Pudasaini, who is originally from the town of Devighat in the Nuwakot district of Nepal, said several members of his extended family have died in the flood.
“There are lots of villagers and neighbours that are missing from Devighat – our town is gone,” Mr Pudasaini told the Press Association (PA).
“It’s a very sad situation and heartbreaking.
“One of my relatives tried to save her grandfather and grandmother at the same time and she couldn’t, she had to run away.
“I got a call this morning (from a lady), she was the local tea seller, and from a poor background.
“She had no property other than her little tea stand and she’s six months pregnant.
“She’s in the hospital now and there’s nobody to look after them.”
Mr Pudasaini said he felt “proud” of the Nepalese community coming together in the wake of the flood, but said it was difficult watching the disaster and its aftermath unfold from the UK.
“We are far away from home and we just feel guilty that we can’t do anything about it, other than pulling the community together and asking for help and working to raise some funds,” he said.
“I hope the international community, our government, society as a whole will be able to come together and try and offer help and support.”
Almost given up
Kamal Kandel told PA his family friend Saharda Simkhandd, a Brisith-Nepali woman “lovingly called aunty”, has been missing since Wednesday.
She is survived by her husband who is looking for her in hospitals, Mr Kandel said.
“He has almost given up – all hospitals are packed with dead bodies,” he said.
“He is going from one hospital to another in case anybody can be identified. His daughter is also with him.
“Though he has a little hope, we are expecting more sinister news.”
Bandna Chopra, a former councillor for the London Borough of Hounslow, lit candles outside the temple alongside other attendees.
She said: “I wanted to join with the Nepalese community in solidarity with them, to give them my regards and my condolences for some of the many lives that have been lost.
“And also give hope for some of the ones that are hopefully being found and alive and well.
“That’s all we can do: we can just hope.”
She added: “It’s very traumatic, and as a temple we obviously want to help them any way we can.”
Chiran Sharma, a co-ordinator at the Hounslow-based Nepali Cultural Centre UK, hosted the vigil.
He said: “We have to do something for the nation, so we decided to organise this gathering here.”
Many still missing
More than 500 tourists, including 33 Britons, are still said to be missing after the flash flood.
In its latest update, the Nepal Tourism Board said 583 foreign nationals remain “out of communication”.
Nepalese authorities said among those unaccounted for are more than 30 British nationals, while Chinese state media on Sunday said 15 people from Britain were among 261 missing foreigners.
It is unclear how many are included in the Nepal figures.
No Britons were among the 315 foreign nationals reported rescued as of Monday.