A month after Nepal-China floods, families await answers about more than 50 missing Ukrainians

A month has passed since the Nepal-China floods, leaving families anxiously awaiting answers about more than 50 Ukrainians who went missing. One such victim is Olena Kalynychenko, 36, who was part of a group of 56 people, mostly Ukrainians, on a spiritual retreat in Mount Kailash, Tibet. She was last seen exiting China at a border post 15 minutes before the flood hit at 10:22 a.m. local time.

Kalynychenko's partner, Oles Visich, has been waiting for any news for a month, but has received no updates from authorities. The Chinese government has informed a few families that their relatives left Chinese territory before the flood, but they have not been able to confirm if they entered Nepal due to the destroyed immigration records.

Nepal has reported 636 foreign nationals missing, including 54 Ukrainians, while China has acknowledged 261 foreign nationals among the missing, including one Ukrainian. Nepal has recovered 1,451 bodies, but only 112 have been returned to families, and they have not disclosed how many victims have been identified. The group's last message was sent 10 minutes before the flood, and authorities believe the disaster was triggered by an ice and rock slide from a Himalayan mountain, causing a torrent of water, ice, mud, and debris.

Families in Ukraine have not received any answers, as they only have statistics provided online, which do not offer any comfort.