Man's agonising search for family in flood-hit Nepal

A man from East Sussex who flew to flood-hit Nepal in search of his wife, mother, brother and uncle says he still has not been able to locate his family.

Pramod Poudel, from Uckfield, has not heard from his relatives since flash floods on the Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday led to more than 900 deaths and more than 4,200 people missing.

Poudel, who arrived in Nepal last Friday, said the situation has "completely devastated his family" and left him "emotionally shattered".

He is currently in the town where he and his family were all born in Nepal, where he said major flooding has affected parts of the area, with roads and bridges severely damaged.

"It is making it extremely difficult and, in some areas, impossible to travel by road," Poudel said.

"I need to reach areas that are currently inaccessible and where people are still desperately waiting for assistance."

Poudel said he had contacted his local MP, Nus Ghani, to help raise the matter urgently with the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office, and to establish whether any emergency, humanitarian or evacuation support was available to help him reach the affected areas.

"I am not asking for special treatment," he said.

"I am simply trying to reach my loved ones and find out what has happened to them."

Poudel, who runs a Nepalese food truck in the UK, said every hour was "agonising" as his family may be trapped somewhere he could not access.

He said he was now "facing a situation he had never imagined he would have to experience".

Rescuers in Nepal are still trying to reach hundreds of workers who have been trapped in tunnels since the massive floods.

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