Nepal flood missing count from Gujarat rises to 26, Australian national added
Synopsis
An Australian national from Ahmedabad, Arpan Kothari, is the latest addition to Gujarat's growing list of missing persons from the Nepal flash floods — now at 26. He was last seen minutes before the flood struck at Timure on 26 August, preparing to cross into Tibet on a Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage. With hundreds dead and thousands missing across Rasuwa, Gujarat's SEOC is tracking a diaspora-wide crisis.
Key Takeaways
Gujarat's State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) has raised its Nepal flood missing count to 26 as of 30 August .
Arpan Kothari , an Australian citizen from Sabarmati, Ahmedabad , was added as the latest missing person.
Kothari was last seen on 26 August at Timure, Rasuwa district , between 7:20 am and 8:30 am , shortly before the flash flood struck.
Missing persons are from districts including Ahmedabad , Vadodara , Gandhinagar , Anand , and Amreli ; several are foreign citizens or overseas residents of Indian origin.
Roma Intwala and Chauhan Kamtaprasad (Gomtibapu) have been confirmed safe in Nepal.
Reports indicate hundreds dead and thousands missing across Nepal, with rescue efforts hampered by damaged infrastructure.
The number of people from Gujarat reported missing or unreachable following the devastating flash floods in Nepal's Rasuwa district has climbed to 26, with an Australian national from Ahmedabad added to the state's emergency tracking list, officials confirmed on Sunday, 30 August. The update was issued by the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) as rescue and recovery operations continued in the flood-hit region.
New Entry: Arpan Kothari
The latest addition to the SEOC list is Arpan Kothari, a native of the Sabarmati area in Ahmedabad and an Australian citizen, who was travelling on a Kailash Mansarovar Yatra with the tour operator Kailash Journeys. According to the SEOC record, Kothari was last seen on 26 August between approximately 7:20 am and 8:30 am at Timure in Nepal's Rasuwa district, where he was staying at a lodge with five other Australian pilgrims and staff from Kailash Journeys. The group was preparing to cross at Rasuwagadhi, the Nepal-Tibet border point, when the flash flood struck at around 8:30 to 9 am, according to authorities.
To aid identification, the SEOC record notes that Kothari is approximately 182 cm tall, medium-built, bald, with dark brown eyes, a trimmed beard and moustache, and dark rectangular spectacles. He was last seen wearing a black or dark blue polo shirt, a beige or tan cap, an orange or yellow tilak, and multiple rudraksha necklaces.
Who Is on the Gujarat Missing List
The updated SEOC list draws from multiple districts, including Ahmedabad, Anand, Vadodara, Gandhinagar, and Amreli. Several of those listed are identified as foreign citizens or Indian-origin residents based overseas. Many were travelling towards the Kailash Mansarovar route through Kerung, Kyirong, or the Rasuwa border corridor. The list covers cases where contact has been lost for 24 to 48 hours.
Notably, Roma Intwala has been confirmed safe in Nepal, and Chauhan Kamtaprasad, known as Gomtibapu, was reported safe at a local ashram in Janakpur.
Scale of the Nepal Disaster
The flash floods in the Rasuwa region have caused widespread destruction, with reports on Sunday indicating that hundreds have died and thousands remain missing. Difficult terrain and damaged infrastructure have severely hampered rescue operations, slowing the pace of recovery. This comes amid a broader monsoon crisis across Nepal, where annual flooding regularly disrupts the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage corridor — a route heavily frequented by Indian and overseas pilgrims of Indian origin.
What Happens Next
The SEOC is continuing to update its tracking list as new information emerges. Families of those missing have been advised to stay in contact with Gujarat's emergency operations authorities. With rescue conditions remaining difficult, the toll and the missing count are both expected to change as access to the affected areas improves.
Point of View
Yet pilgrimage operators and state authorities appear to lack a real-time tracking mechanism — the SEOC is piecing together a list days after the event. The inclusion of foreign nationals of Indian origin also signals that this is no longer a purely domestic consular matter; it demands coordination between Gujarat, the Ministry of External Affairs, and Australian authorities. The question of whether tour operators like Kailash Journeys had adequate emergency protocols in place will likely surface as families push for accountability.
NationPress
31 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people from Gujarat are missing after the Nepal flash floods?
As of 30 August, the Gujarat State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) lists 26 people from the state as missing or unreachable following flash floods in Nepal's Rasuwa district. The count has been updated progressively as new information reaches authorities.
Who is Arpan Kothari and why is he in the news?
Arpan Kothari is an Australian citizen originally from the Sabarmati area of Ahmedabad, who was on a Kailash Mansarovar Yatra with tour operator Kailash Journeys. He was last seen on 26 August at Timure in Nepal's Rasuwa district, shortly before flash floods struck the area around 8:30 to 9 am.
Where exactly did the Nepal flash floods occur?
The flash floods struck the Rasuwa district of Nepal, particularly around Timure and the Rasuwagadhi border crossing — a key transit point on the Nepal-Tibet route used by Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims. The floods hit on 26 August between approximately 8:30 and 9 am.
Are any of the Gujarat-linked missing persons confirmed safe?
Yes. Roma Intwala has been confirmed safe in Nepal, and Chauhan Kamtaprasad, also known as Gomtibapu, was reported safe at a local ashram in Janakpur, according to the SEOC update.
What is the broader scale of the Nepal disaster?
Reports as of Sunday indicate that hundreds of people have died and thousands remain missing across Nepal following the flash floods. Rescue operations are ongoing but have been significantly hampered by difficult terrain and damaged infrastructure in the Rasuwa region.
