Son appeals over missing parents after floods in Nepal

A man who said he has not heard from his parents following floods in Nepal, has appealed to the Foreign Office to work with Chinese authorities to get border logs verified.

Anant Patel, 29, believes Bipin and Mala Patel, from Coventry, who have been on a pilgrimage, crossed into Tibet from Nepal before a landslide hit the Gyirong border crossing on Wednesday.

He said he was staying as positive as possible and the family was "pulling together as one to make sure we all get through this."

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) confirmed that their consular team have spoken to Anant. They said: "We recognise this is a distressing time and are working around the clock to support families and loved ones of British nationals missing in the floods."

They added: "The scenes along the Nepal-China border are devastating and our thoughts remain with all those affected by this tragedy.

"We are coordinating closely with the Nepali and Chinese authorities and have deployed consular staff to the region to ensure British nationals can access support."

Officials say at least 2,426 people are missing, which includes more than 30 British nationals.

The death toll from the flooding in Nepal has reached over 600, ahead of a team arriving from the UK to provide support.

Patel said he believed his parents were crossing the Gyirong border crossing around the time "when the landslide has hit that area quite hard".

"I've seen border control logs purportedly from the Chinese side that suggest that my parents, along with 11 other UK nationals in that pilgrimage group, had officially been confirmed to have crossed the border about 15 to 20 minutes before the landside struck."

Patel said his "main line of focus in terms of information is to verify that information and get some sort of confirmation."

He added: "My appeal to the British Foreign Office would be 'please can you work with the Chinese authorities to get these border logs verified?'

"I think this information would be really crucial to providing certainty and clarity for the 13 British nationals that were in the area at the time."

Patel said he last heard from his parents on Tuesday, and they were progressing with their pilgrimage through Nepal on the way to Tibet.

"I was aware that they were going to be crossing the border from Nepal into China at some point... They had an original itinerary and due to the weather conditions there was naturally some deviation from that.

"But since the news on Wednesday when the news broke of the landslide, I haven't heard from them since."

Patel added that he thought "for my parents' sake, I'd like to think that [I'll] stay strong".

"I'm holding up as well as I can do because in this sort of situation that's all you really can do.

"You want to be optimistic to an extent as well, but as time goes on you also get the impression that it's going to be that bit more difficult in terms of news that you may or may not want to hear."

Police in Nepal have said 616 people were confirmed dead so far, while the nation's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority reported that almost 2,500 were still missing.

The latest figures from Chinese state media reported 554 people were missing in Tibet.

The rapid deployment team was due to arrive in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu on Saturday to provide support for British nationals and their families.

Patel said "in terms of accessibility to the Foreign Office, that's all been good" and that it stated it would call back with any further information.

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