Woman talks about the search for her parents who are among the missing in Nepal

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− World Woman talks about the search for her parents who are among the missing in Nepal August 28, 20266:54 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition Steve Inskeep Woman talks about the search for her parents who are among the missing in Nepal Listen &middot; 5:00 5:00 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5946690/nx-s1-9904569" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Shreya Ahuja about her parents, who are missing in the floods in Nepal.

− Sponsor Message Transcript STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Americans who are waiting for news from Nepal include Shreya Ahuja.

− She lives in North Carolina.

− She's now in Washington, D.C., with other family members, where they have gathered, hoping for the safety of Shreya's parents, Deepak and Madhu Ahuja, who were visiting Nepal when the floods began.

− Welcome to the program. SHREYA AHUJA: Hi, Steve.

− Thank you for having me on the show.

− INSKEEP: I'm sorry for what you're going through.

− Can you tell me something about your parents? AHUJA: Well, they're the best parents in the world. But I'm sure any daughter would say that. We grew up in Dallas. They're both born in India, so they immigrated here in the '90s. They are U.S. citizens, both small business owners in Dallas. They've worked really hard to build the lives that they have. And it was my dad's 60th birthday, and so they chose this pilgrimage trek because it was his birthday wish list. INSKEEP: Sixtieth birthday. And you said pilgrimage trek. What was the organization and what was the trek supposed to be? AHUJA: So the trek was to Mount Kailash, which is a holy site for many religions, but especially for us Hindus. And they were traveling with the Isha Foundation Sacred Walks. INSKEEP: OK. And when did you last hear from your parents? AHUJA: They were checking in with us periodically during the trip, either via text or uploading photos into our shared album. And then I last talked with them on the phone, my time, August 25, 7:30 p.m. That's when they told me that they had completed their trek, which we actually were the most worried about, them physically making it through the trek. They had actually gotten to meet the spiritual leader, which they were extremely excited by and felt like they had been blessed. And then they told me they were in Saga in China and departing shortly for the border. And this was just hours before they reached the border and were impacted by the floods. INSKEEP: So you had reached the moment where you thought they were beyond any risk, any danger. AHUJA: Essentially, yeah. INSKEEP: When did you begin to think they might be in trouble? AHUJA: So I went to sleep that night after talking to my parents. I went to work the next morning. I was at work for 15 minutes, and I saw a few of my aunts start texting about flash flooding in Nepal. And I tried texting them.

− And initially, I wasn't too concerned.

− I feel like everyone thinks, what are the chances that they were in that exact spot?

− INSKEEP: Yeah. AHUJA: But we did receive confirmation about 10 minutes later from the Isha Foundation via email that they had a group of about 77 people that were impacted and our parents were part of that group. INSKEEP: I'm so sorry.

− What other evidence do you have of what may have happened to them? AHUJA: My sister was sharing location with them.

− And so her last location of them is about an hour before the flood hit and is in the exact spot that the Isha Foundation reported that they would be.

− And that location is the Gyirong border crossing that is at the border of China and Nepal.

− And there is CCTV footage with a timestamp of exactly when that flash flooding happens and entirely destroys the building that they were supposed to be in. INSKEEP: I'm so sorry.

− Now, I know that your family has gathered here in Washington, D.C., I guess to be close to information, if you can, and maybe to support each other as well.

− What have your hours and days been like?

− AHUJA: It's essentially been one long day. Haven't really slept. I think we're all well aware that the situation is dynamic for our parents. Even if they're fine somewhere now, they may not be in a few hours. And we're just really hoping that we can get to them in time.

− INSKEEP: I thank you for sharing that.

− What help do you want from people who are listening? AHUJA: Call your local legislators.

− We've been doing that as well to see if the U.S.

− can provide support for the American citizens, including my parents that are there. We would really love to see more internation collaboration with India, Nepal, China and the U.S. all working hand in hand. I know from friends who work with SpaceX that Starlink has made efforts to put down dishes in Nepal but are currently not authorized to, so we would love to see that as well. These are all tangible things that could really help us get into contact with people on the ground.

− INSKEEP: I suppose the hope here is that there may be people who are just out of communication at this time. Is that right?

− AHUJA: That's definitely the hope.

− INSKEEP: Well, Shreya Ahuja, thank you very much for taking the time.

− I really appreciate the insights.

− AHUJA: Thank you for having me. Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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