Nepal flood: Durban mother questions reports that missing are presumed dead - IOL
Terricia Govender was part of the Isha Foundation’s S3 group.
After seeing multiple social media reports that the Nepal Army had declared the over 5,600 people missing as presumed dead after the flash floods on August 26, Durban mother Linda Govender said it felt too soon to end the search.
Govender’s daughter Terricia, 33, was part of the Isha Foundation’s S3 group, and was at the Gyirong immigration office when the natural disaster occurred on August 26.
Five other South African pilgrims—Barika Ramjee, 43, Vivaganathan Pillay, 66, and his wife Janet, 56; and 74-year-old Surendranath Maharaj and his wife Anitha, 67—also remain missing.
The catastrophe left over 1,400 people dead.
Govender said she could not describe or explain what the past month had felt like for her.
She said it has been 35 days of waking up every morning hoping that it would be the day she finally got an answer about her daughter.
“Then night comes, and she is still missing. There are moments when I feel completely broken. I am exhausted, frightened and heartbroken, but somehow I find the strength to get up every day and keep searching.
“The hardest part is not knowing. I do not know exactly what happened to her. And without those answers, I cannot simply stop looking for my daughter.”
She said she did everything she could do as a mother, but she refused to give up hope due to the unanswered questions and her not being able to search the Tibet side of the border.
“I cannot just accept uncertainty and walk away from my child. I am tired and there are moments when I feel like I do not know how I am going to carry on. But every morning I remind myself that Terricia needs me to keep going.
“So I will keep asking questions. I will keep searching. I will keep knocking on doors until I have definite answers about my daughter, I will hold on to hope. As a family, we are not ready to stop looking for Terricia.”
She said according to her own enquiries, Terricia and the S3 group were believed to be in Tibet when the incident occurred.
“For that reason, we believe the search on the Tibetan side remains critically important. We do not believe the investigation should end simply because the Nepal side of the search is concluding.
“Until the available evidence from Tibet has been properly investigated, including the recovered personal items, photographs and any other evidence, we remain hopeful that answers can still be found.
“If DNA results from Nepal provide definitive answers, we will deal with those results when they are available. But until then, we believe every reasonable avenue of investigation must remain open,” she added.
Govender said she understood that Nepal could not continue with the search due to the cost of resources, but she said she requested that every reasonable possibility is given the opportunity to be explored before the search is concluded.
Sashin Maharaj, Terricia’s friend, said they had not been able to verify if the Nepal Army had presumed those missing as dead, they knew that it was an “eventual reality.”
“The use of the army in the rescue efforts was very effective, but also a very expensive exercise.
“Given the scale of the disaster, which we were able to see first-hand, it is understandable that the army would not be able to continue efforts across all areas of interest within the almost 200 kilometres of river.
“While this is an incredibly difficult reality to accept, we still remain hopeful.”
“We still hold on to any sliver of hope. We are willing to accept the results of a DNA match or definitive result, as difficult as that will be. However, until then for us and the concerned families, Terricia, the S3 group and the remaining South African travellers remain missing until confirmed otherwise,” Maharaj added.
Despite the social media reports, Anil Sooklal, High Commissioner of South Africa to India, said he had received information from the South African Consulate in Nepal, Pradeep Shrestha, that the search for the missing had not ended.
