Virginia family with 4 relatives missing in the Nepal-China floods pleads for more rescue help

Virginia family with 4 relatives missing in the Nepal-China-floods" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="195692" data-entity-type="event">Nepal-China floods pleads for more rescue help 1 of 4 | In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescuers from the People’s Armed Police Force work at the mudslide-hit area near Gyirong Port in Gyirong County, in Xigaze, southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (Liu Shuang/Xinhua via AP) 2 of 4 | In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescuers from the People’s Armed Police Force search for victims at the mudslide-hit area near Gyirong Port in Gyirong County, in Xigaze, southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (Liu Shuang/Xinhua via AP) 3 of 4 | Rescuers carry a victim of flash flooding to safety along the Trishuli River in Nepal’s Nuwakot district, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) 4 of 4 | Nepalese policemen watch as earthmovers clear the debris of flash flooding in Nepal’s Nuwakot district, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) 1 of 4 | In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescuers from the People’s Armed Police Force work at the mudslide-hit area near Gyirong Port in Gyirong County, in Xigaze, southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (Liu Shuang/Xinhua via AP) 1 of 4 In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescuers from the People’s Armed Police Force work at the mudslide-hit area near Gyirong Port in Gyirong County, in Xigaze, southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (Liu Shuang/Xinhua via AP) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 2 of 4 | In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescuers from the People’s Armed Police Force search for victims at the mudslide-hit area near Gyirong Port in Gyirong County, in Xigaze, southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (Liu Shuang/Xinhua via AP) 2 of 4 In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescuers from the People’s Armed Police Force search for victims at the mudslide-hit area near Gyirong Port in Gyirong County, in Xigaze, southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (Liu Shuang/Xinhua via AP) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 3 of 4 | Rescuers carry a victim of flash flooding to safety along the Trishuli River in Nepal’s Nuwakot district, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) 3 of 4 Rescuers carry a victim of flash flooding to safety along the Trishuli River in Nepal’s Nuwakot district, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 4 of 4 | Nepalese policemen watch as earthmovers clear the debris of flash flooding in Nepal’s Nuwakot district, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) 4 of 4 Nepalese policemen watch as earthmovers clear the debris of flash flooding in Nepal’s Nuwakot district, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] Mukti Patel has huddled with family and friends at her parents’ Richmond, Virginia, home since her dad, sister and two other relatives went missing in the catastrophic flash floods along the Nepal-China border.She knows the hotel they were staying in was swept away. But as she shared memories of them on Friday, she caught herself.“I shouldn’t talk in past tense yet,” she said. “We don’t know anything.”As rescuers continued pulling survivors from the mud, family members of some of the more than 2,000 people missing in the disaster were still holding out hope — however dim — that their loved ones survived.On a Zoom call Thursday night, some family members wanted to know if they could reach the site and whether a relative might be trapped inside an air pocket, said Sanket Pandey, managing director of Himalayan Glacier Adventure and Travel Company. The tour group, which has an office in Baltimore, had organized a two-week excursion to the region with 40 guests and seven tour guides. All of them are now missing, Pandey said. Their families are desperate for any information.“It’s really difficult to have nothing,” he said. Patel’s family was in the Himalayan Glacier group when the floods struck on Wednesday, killing hundreds of people and leaving more than 2,000 missing. About 90 Americans are among those unaccounted for, according to the U.S. State Department.