Latvian man in Dublin desperately searches for mother lost in Nepal floods
Veterinarian Eduards Sarma, who works in Dublin, is trying to find out what happened to his mother Evita, who went missing during the catastrophic floods in Nepal along with other Latvians. A colleague has launched a fundraiser to help him.
The natural disaster in Nepal has also deeply affected Eduards Sarma, a Latvian veterinarian working in Dublin, Ireland. His mother Evita sent him her last photo just ten minutes before a devastating wave of water and mud struck the region on August 26. Nothing has been heard from her since.
Eduards' colleague Estere shared the situation, explaining that he has been in constant contact with the Latvian embassy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and police in an effort to get any information about his mother. To help him travel to Nepal or a nearby border town as quickly as possible, Estere started a fundraising campaign on GoFundMe.
Estere described the ordeal as the worst nightmare imaginable — Evita was crossing the border between Nepal and China at the exact moment the floods hit the region. She was travelling with a small group of Latvians, all of whom are now considered missing. No calls, texts or any other news have come through since that last photo. Evita is said to be Eduards' only close family member, and the event has left him devastated, though he lacks the financial means to simply drop everything and travel there.
Scale of the disaster
In late August, a massive chunk of glacier fell into a river from a great height in Nepal and the neighbouring Tibetan region, triggering a glacial lake outburst flood that caused extensive damage in both countries. As of September 3, 1,252 deaths have been confirmed, with a further 4,216 people still listed as missing. Among the missing are 33 Latvian nationals.
A larger group of Latvian tourists organised by the yoga community "Yantra" was near the disaster site, along with a smaller group travelling with the local company "Mighty Himalayan Trek". Latvia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that three Latvian residents in the region were unharmed by the mudslide, but the fate of the remaining 33 is still unknown.
