Bhubaneswar: Hopes of locating Melbourne-based Odia couple, Sandeep Mohapatra and his wife Sidharthi Kumari Sahu, who remain missing after the devastating floods in Nepal, are fading with each passing day, with their tour operator saying there was little possibility of the tourists escaping the spot when the disaster struck. Their family members in Khurda have also not been able to establish contact with them since the disaster.The couple, who hail from Khurda district, were among a group which had travelled to Nepal for a pilgrimage to Kailash-Mansarovar. According to Sujan Awasthi, owner of the travel agency through which the couple had booked their trip, Sandeep and Sidharthi were at the Nepal Immigration office at Timure along with other members of their group when the disaster unfolded. “I do not think there was any warning. Everything happened within moments,” Awasthi told TOI.He added the group was at the Nepal immigration office to complete formalities before proceeding towards the Friendship Bridge on the Nepal-China border for passport stamping. “The immigration office was scheduled to open at 8 am (local time). Around 30 minutes before that, one of our guides accompanying the group called me and said they would proceed towards the Friendship Bridge. I wished them good luck for the journey,” he said.The couple and other members of the group were reportedly outside the immigration office when the disaster struck at 8.42 am.“Even if there had been some indication of what was about to happen, there was very little scope for the tourists to escape from the immigration office premises,” said Awasthi, who hails from Nuwakot — one of the severely affected areas in the catastrophic flash floods and landslides.Awasthi added he immediately tried contacting the tourists and their guides, but all attempts have so far proved futile. “There were 26 tourists in the group, accompanied by five Nepalese guides. We have been trying to establish contact with them, but there has been no success,” he said.
