Four South Africans are reportedly among hundreds of tourists and travellers cut off after catastrophic flooding in Nepal, with families waiting anxiously for confirmation while rescuers face destroyed roads, rising rivers and the threat of a secondary dam collapse.
The reports have placed South African families at the centre of an unfolding international rescue operation after floodwater tore through Nepal’s border region with Tibet. Gift of the Givers says two couples are believed to be unaccounted for, but South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) is still working to confirm the number of affected citizens.
The situation remains uncertain. The reports of missing South Africans have not yet been independently confirmed by the department, and officials are still trying to establish who is safe, who is unreachable because of damaged communications and who may need urgent evacuation.
For relatives in South Africa, that uncertainty is the hardest part. A missing phone signal can mean a destroyed network, a blocked road, a power failure or a life-threatening emergency. In Nepal, the difference may not be known until rescue teams reach the affected area.
TWO COUPLES UNACCOUNTED FOR AS FAMILIES WAIT FOR ANSWERS
Gift of the Givers founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman said the organisation was contacted by a South African woman who reported that her parents were missing. A tour guide later reportedly confirmed that a second South African couple was also unaccounted for.
Dirco spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said the department was attempting to verify the reports. That process is expected to involve communication with families, local authorities, the Nepalese government and South African diplomatic representatives.
The reported disappearance of the two couples forms part of a much larger crisis. News reports said more than 380 tourists, most of them foreign nationals, were out of contact after the flooding struck the border region. Reuters reported that at least 348 travellers had been reported missing, including 105 Indians, 93 Nepalis, three United States citizens and 12 British citizens. Eight South Korean nationals working at a hydropower plant were also reportedly unaccounted for, along with 17 Malaysians and people from Australia and the Netherlands.
FLOODWATER WASHES AWAY ROADS, HOMES AND POWER PROJECTS
The destruction described from the disaster zone is extensive. Images shared by Nepalese police showed powerful floodwater surging through a river and carrying away structures. Other images showed the upper floor of a house protruding from thick, muddy soil.
Sooliman said thousands of homes, shopping centres and businesses had been washed away. He said helicopter surveillance was the only practical way to reach parts of the affected region because roads had been completely destroyed. However, he warned that helicopters could not yet land safely because the water level had left no solid ground in some areas.
Several road closures have added to the danger. The Prithvi Highway, a major route linking the affected region to Kathmandu, was reportedly fully blocked by flood debris. Floodwater also damaged bridges, power facilities and other infrastructure, cutting communities off from outside help.
The disaster also triggered a mudslide at Gyirong Port, an important land crossing with Tibet. Roads, communications and power links in the area were reportedly cut, making it difficult for families and officials to contact people who may be trapped or sheltering in safer locations.
DAM COLLAPSE FEARS DELAY INTERNATIONAL RESCUE TEAMS
Gift of the Givers has placed a rescue team on standby, but the organisation says it is waiting for Nepal to formally request international assistance before deploying personnel.
The organisation said Ahmed Bham, its head of search and rescue, was communicating with Nepalese disaster-management authorities. The relationship dates back to Gift of the Givers’ response to the Nepal earthquake in 2015.
Sooliman said Nepalese officials advised international teams to remain on standby rather than travel immediately. The reason is not simply administrative. A natural dam upstream near the Chinese border had reportedly not fully drained, leaving the risk of another surge along the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers.
That warning creates a difficult balance. Rescue teams are trained to move quickly, but sending people into an unstable flood zone could create more victims. A second wave of water could sweep through roads, temporary shelters and rescue routes without warning.
“They suggest that teams should remain on standby and not travel as the government has not made a call for international assistance as yet, but that may be forthcoming once the true scale of the disaster is manifest in daylight hours,” Sooliman said.
GIFT OF THE GIVERS PREPARES SOUTH AFRICAN RESCUE SUPPORT
The South African organisation said it had 11 urban search-and-water-rescue team members ready for deployment. It also said four South African Police Service dog handlers and four dogs had been authorised by Deputy National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili to assist if required.
Gift of the Givers is also in contact with the Nepalese Embassy in South Africa, which is reportedly prepared to process visas immediately. The organisation said it was holding back until a formal request for international assistance was made.
The disaster site is about 125 kilometres from Kathmandu, according to Sooliman. Once operations begin, he said, they will be managed from the capital by the military. That arrangement reflects the scale of the logistical challenge: destroyed roads, unstable ground, dangerous rivers and large numbers of people whose whereabouts are not yet known.
AT LEAST 19 DEAD AS SEARCH OPERATION GROWS
Nepalese police spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle told AFP that at least 19 people had died and that bodies had been recovered. It was not immediately clear whether any of those bodies were among the tourists and travellers who had lost contact with their families.
Kafle also said many police officers in the affected area were out of contact. Dozens of people were reportedly injured, adding pressure to emergency services already struggling to reach isolated communities.
For South Africans watching from home, the immediate priority is confirmation. Families need clear information from officials, while rescue agencies need accurate names, locations and last known contact details. In disasters of this scale, reliable information can save time that rescuers cannot afford to lose.
The reports involving the four South Africans remain unconfirmed by Dirco. Until authorities complete their checks, families will be left holding on to the possibility that their relatives are safe but unreachable. At the same time, the expanding death toll and warnings of further flooding show why the rescue operation cannot be treated as a routine missing-person search.
Nepal’s rivers remain dangerous, roads are broken and the ground itself may not be stable. For the missing travellers and their families, every hour now carries enormous weight.
