21 Tamil Nadu Pilgrims Use Saree To Escape Terrifying Nepal Floods

The simple saree saved the lives of 21 Tamil Nadu pilgrims who were stuck in Nepal near the border of Tibet after a devastating landslide and flood in the country. The group finally arrived in Chennai on Friday night, having escaped after climbing muddy slopes, passing through thorny bushes and waiting for over a day before they were picked up by helicopter.

A Surge Of Mud And Rocks

The pilgrims were in a group of 57 in three buses organised by an agency in the city of Kumbakonam. They departed Syabrubesi around 8am for Chinese immigration, their bus being in the middle of the convoy.

In minutes the trip turned around suddenly when rocks and mud started rolling down the mountain. A headmistress from Kanchipuram district, Sathya, who survived the disaster, said that the debris at first appeared as a cloud of dust. Soon there was a huge wave estimated to be 70 to 80 feet tall.

The second bus had stopped for a short while due to the mud getting stuck in the bus. The brief wait made a big difference. Suddenly, there was a loud noise, and rocks started falling on the vehicle, and then the water started flowing towards the passengers. While mud was already up to their feet, the passengers left by the driver’s door looking for a path to the top of the mountain.

The Saree Which Helped Them Climb Up

The survivors came across a steep incline. There were no ladders, and climbing up and down could easily mean back into the mud for them. In the last ascent, a saree, lowered from the top of the mud-covered embankment, was available for the pilgrims to hold hands on.

“We held tightly onto both the saree and a cable that was there and climbed up,” said Vijaya Bhuvaneswari, who travelled with her husband, Navu Kabirdas. One of them had a difficult time climbing up, and the group tied her saree around her waist and pulled her up.

The group arrived at an Armed Police Force camp, where they were given water and biscuits. Some survivors were still able to use mobile phones and have sent a picture of their safety to Tamil Nadu. On the way up, they also saw a man stuck in the mud and called the rescue crew, which succeeded in rescuing him.

Three-Hour Journey Across Hazardous Land

On the next day, the twenty-one survivors set out and followed through brush and thorn trees for approximately three hours through a narrow mountain trail to a helicopter evacuation site. Kabirdas remembered that due to a wrong turn, they had to turn back and take the help of a Nepalese man.

The path was very difficult to cross, and there were lots of steep spots below the path. Eventually, the group arrived at the evacuation point and was rescued by a military helicopter. Then they went all the way to Kathmandu and New Delhi and came into Chennai.

A number of the victims lost their passports and other paperwork in the accident. They expressed gratitude to the Nepal government, the Nepal Army, the Tamil Nadu government and the Indian Embassy for their assistance to repatriate them home. Another survivor from Tiruchi, Sivaranjani, claimed that the bus was spared as it was parked at a bend in the road where the floodwater, going over a rock, flowed away.

Though the 21 pilgrims had returned safe, on Saturday, 36 of their 57-member group were not reachable. An additional group of 49 pilgrims who were last seen in the Gyirong Port immigration building, on the Chinese side, before the disaster was also missing.

Tamil Nadu Minister A. Rajmohan said that over 400 persons from the state had gone to Nepal, and about 90 are yet to be contacted. In New Delhi, State ministers Aadhav Arjuna, Rajmohan, K Thennarasu and R Vinoth were liaising with officials to create the situation of missing persons and help survivors who have lost their travel documents.