Lexington woman among thousands missing after floods in Nepal

Local News

Her husband and best friend have since traveled to Nepal, hoping to find her as the death toll continues to rise.

As rescue efforts continue in communities devastated by the catastrophic flooding along the Nepal-China border, a Lexington woman is believed to be among those missing, prompting her husband and best friend to travel to the region in hopes of finding her. 

Jiwan Jyoti, a Lexington mother who traveled to Nepal to celebrate her 50th birthday, was staying in Fasuwagadhi, near Nepal’s border with Tibet, when her family last heard from her on Wednesday, according to The Boston Globe. 

Her best friend, Manmeet Singh Meet, was traveling to Kathmandu on Sunday to help search for Jyoti. 

“You know that saying, right? Let’s not leave any stone unturned,” Singh Meet told the Globe by phone.

Jyoti had planned to mark the milestone birthday with her first solo trip, a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, a peak in the Himalayas considered sacred by several religions and visited by thousands of pilgrims each year.

Jyoti was staying at a hotel and waiting to cross into China when the flooding began, according to the Globe.

The tour group Jyoti was traveling with, Himalayan Glacier, said on social media that 40 pilgrims and seven team members remained unaccounted for.

Hundreds of those still missing are foreigners who had traveled to the region to work, trek, or make pilgrimages to Mount Kailash, the Associated Press reported.

As of Sunday, the combined death toll in Nepal and Tibet had risen to over 950, while more than 4,000 people remained missing, according to the AP. More than 3,700 people had been rescued in Nepal.

For Jyoti’s family and friends, the search remains ongoing.

“I still leave 0.1 percent for a miracle,” Singh Meet told the Globe. “We are praying for that.”