Dallas, TX — A Dallas couple is among the Americans unaccounted for after catastrophic flash flooding along the Nepal-Tibet border.
Deepak Ahuja, 60, and Madhu Ahuja, 57, have lived in Dallas for more than 30 years. Their daughters, Ashna and Shreya Ahuja, say they last spoke with their parents about an hour and a half before the disaster.
The couple had completed a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet, planned around Deepak’s 60th birthday, and were returning when the flood hit Wednesday morning, August 26, 2026.
Family members say their phone last pinged around 9 a.m. local time at the Gyirong immigration facility on the Tibet side of the border. They were scheduled to cross into Timure, Nepal, then travel toward Kathmandu.
They have not been confirmed found.
The flood followed a glacial ice-and-rock collapse that sent a debris-laden surge through the Rasuwagadhi–Gyirong border area and down the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river system. Villages, roads, bridges, and the border crossing were hit.
Authorities in Nepal and China have reported hundreds of deaths and more than 1,000 people missing. Those figures remain under review as search operations continue.
The U.S. State Department said about 90 U.S. citizens may have been impacted. Three Americans have been rescued. As of the department’s latest statement, it was not aware of any confirmed deaths of U.S. citizens.
Nepal’s tourism board has separately listed about 65 American nationals among those unaccounted for.
Many of the missing were pilgrims traveling to or from Mount Kailash.
The Ahuja sisters said they have contacted the State Department and U.S. embassies and have not received confirmation of their parents’ location.
Help Is Available
Americans seeking information about family members in the affected area should contact the U.S. State Department:
From the United States: 1-888-407-4747
From overseas: 1-202-501-4444