{"id":18353,"date":"2026-08-28T05:08:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T17:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=18353"},"modified":"2026-08-28T05:08:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T17:08:29","slug":"horrifying-nz-based-nepali-community-pleads-for-urgent-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=18353","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Horrifying&#8217;: NZ-based Nepali community pleads for urgent help"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"font-serif-text leading-normal [&amp;_li&gt;ol.list]:!mt-4 [&amp;_li&gt;ol.list]:!pb-0 [&amp;_li&gt;ul.list]:!mt-4 [&amp;_li&gt;ul.list]:!pb-0 [&amp;_li]:!mb-8 [&amp;_ol]:pb-4 [&amp;_ul]:pb-4\">\n<ul class=\"list [&amp;_em]:font-serif-text-italic [&amp;_cite]:font-serif-text-italic\">\n<li class=\"\">A flash flood and landslide hit the Nepal-China border on Wednesday<\/li>\n<li class=\"\">Police in Nepal say 362 bodies have been found<\/li>\n<li class=\"\">Hundreds of tourists are among more than 1000 people missing<\/li>\n<li class=\"\">Five Kiwis are among the missing, MFAT says<\/li>\n<li class=\"\">It&#8217;s believed a glacier collapse may have caused the disaster<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"font-serif-text mb-12 leading-normal\">\n<p class=\"[&amp;_em]:font-serif-text-italic [&amp;_cite]:font-serif-text-italic\">Horrifying pictures of the\u00a0<a class=\"underline-brand-hover visited:text-foreground-secondary hover:visited:text-foreground-primary\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rnz.co.nz\/news\/world\/1146944\/hundreds-missing-and-many-feared-dead-after-massive-flash-flood-hits-nepal-china-border\">Nepal flash flood<\/a>\u00a0are being described as &#8220;like watching a movie&#8221; by a New Zealand-based Nepali man.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"font-serif-text mb-12 leading-normal\">\n<p class=\"[&amp;_em]:font-serif-text-italic [&amp;_cite]:font-serif-text-italic\">Five New Zealanders are among more than 1000 people missing following Wednesday&#8217;s\u00a0<a class=\"underline-brand-hover visited:text-foreground-secondary hover:visited:text-foreground-primary\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rnz.co.nz\/news\/world\/1148384\/five-new-zealanders-among-missing-tourists-after-deadly-nepal-flash-flood\">catastrophic flash flooding on the Nepal-China border<\/a>\u00a0which killed at least 362 people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"font-serif-text mb-12 leading-normal\">\n<p class=\"[&amp;_em]:font-serif-text-italic [&amp;_cite]:font-serif-text-italic\">RNZ understands\u00a0<a class=\"underline-brand-hover visited:text-foreground-secondary hover:visited:text-foreground-primary\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rnz.co.nz\/news\/world\/1152433\/nepal-flash-flood-what-we-know-about-the-missing-new-zealanders\">four of the five New Zealanders missing<\/a>\u00a0are Suhasini Reddy, who lives in Australia, Auckland man Dejan Kuzmic, and Hamilton couple Mihir and Kinnari Patel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"font-serif-text mb-12 leading-normal\">\n<p class=\"[&amp;_em]:font-serif-text-italic [&amp;_cite]:font-serif-text-italic\">The identity of the fifth person has not yet been confirmed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"font-serif-text mb-12 leading-normal\">\n<p class=\"[&amp;_em]:font-serif-text-italic [&amp;_cite]:font-serif-text-italic\">Based in the Canterbury town of Lincoln, Dr Sulav Paudel said seeing the disaster unfold was unlike anything he had seen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"font-serif-text mb-12 leading-normal\">\n<p class=\"[&amp;_em]:font-serif-text-italic [&amp;_cite]:font-serif-text-italic\">&#8220;It&#8217;s horrifying. It&#8217;s like things we see in dramatic movies,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"font-serif-text mb-12 leading-normal\">\n<p class=\"[&amp;_em]:font-serif-text-italic [&amp;_cite]:font-serif-text-italic\">&#8220;Most of us haven&#8217;t slept well.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"font-serif-text mb-12 leading-normal\">\n<p class=\"[&amp;_em]:font-serif-text-italic [&amp;_cite]:font-serif-text-italic\">Dr Paudel was the treasurer for the New Zealand chapter of the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"font-serif-text mb-12 leading-normal\">\n<p class=\"[&amp;_em]:font-serif-text-italic [&amp;_cite]:font-serif-text-italic\">The group had issued an urgent plea for donations as it tries to raise emergency relief funding for the Nepal government.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"font-serif-text mb-12 leading-normal\">\n<p class=\"[&amp;_em]:font-serif-text-italic [&amp;_cite]:font-serif-text-italic\">NRNA New Zealand was working with other NRNA groups within its international network, including a team on the ground in Nepal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"font-serif-text mb-12 leading-normal\">\n<p class=\"[&amp;_em]:font-serif-text-italic [&amp;_cite]:font-serif-text-italic\">Its executive team met on Thursday to discuss how New Zealand-based Nepali could respond to the disaster.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pb-16 pt-8\">\n<div class=\"grid justify-center\">\n<figure class=\"mx-auto table\">\n<div class=\"image-ring flex w-full max-w-full -mx-16 md:mx-0 w-screen border-x-0 !max-w-[initial] md:w-[revert-layer] md:!max-w-full [&amp;_img]:w-full [&amp;_img]:md:w-[revert-layer]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ml:max-h-[50rem] max-w-full aspect-[16\/10] object-cover\" src=\"https:\/\/media.rnztools.nz\/rnz\/image\/upload\/s--_FuMR35Q--\/t_kt-crop-16x10\/w_614\/f_auto\/q_auto:eco\/4JJ81R2_AFP__20260827__C6LM6NV__v1__HighRes__NepalWeatherLandslideFloods_jpg\" alt=\"A member of the security forces and his sniffer dog search for survivors following flash floods at Trishuli in Nepal&apos;s Nuwakot district on August 27, 2026. Rescue teams scoured devastated zones on August 27 for more than 1,300 people missing a day after flash floods and landslides along the Nepal-Tibet border killed at least 180, sweeping away entire villages. (Photo by Prakash MATHEMA \/ AFP)\" width=\"614\" height=\"384\" \/><\/div><figcaption class=\"border-stroke-default w-full border-b py-12 text-sm *:inline table-caption caption-bottom mt-auto\">A member of the security forces and his sniffer dog search for survivors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-foreground-secondary flex-shrink-0 ml-4\">PRAKASH MATHEMA \/ AFP<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"font-serif-text mb-12 leading-normal\">\n<p class=\"[&amp;_em]:font-serif-text-italic [&amp;_cite]:font-serif-text-italic\">Dr Paudel said the group had reached out to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to advocate for support from the New Zealand government for the disaster recovery.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"font-serif-text mb-12 leading-normal\">\n<p class=\"[&amp;_em]:font-serif-text-italic [&amp;_cite]:font-serif-text-italic\">He hoped the government would soon formally acknowledge the event, including what support it might be able to offer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"font-serif-text mb-12 leading-normal\">\n<p class=\"[&amp;_em]:font-serif-text-italic [&amp;_cite]:font-serif-text-italic\">&#8220;In the meantime we&#8217;re also looking after our members to see whether there are any families or people who have loved ones that need support,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"font-serif-text mb-12 leading-normal\">\n<p class=\"[&amp;_em]:font-serif-text-italic [&amp;_cite]:font-serif-text-italic\">Given the event was still unfolding, Dr Paudel said it was too early to determine to what extent New Zealand-based Nepali may have been personally impacted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"font-serif-text mb-12 leading-normal\">\n<p class=\"[&amp;_em]:font-serif-text-italic [&amp;_cite]:font-serif-text-italic\">&#8220;There are so many people that are out of reach that we don&#8217;t know what has happened to them yet,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"font-serif-text mb-12 leading-normal\">\n<p class=\"[&amp;_em]:font-serif-text-italic [&amp;_cite]:font-serif-text-italic\">&#8220;In terms of actual casualties, I don&#8217;t think we&#8217;ve heard from anyone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"font-serif-text mb-12 leading-normal\">\n<p class=\"[&amp;_em]:font-serif-text-italic [&amp;_cite]:font-serif-text-italic\">&#8220;We expect the number (of casualties) to go up.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"font-serif-text mb-12 leading-normal\">\n<p class=\"[&amp;_em]:font-serif-text-italic [&amp;_cite]:font-serif-text-italic\">There were about 1350 members of NRNA New Zealand.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"font-serif-text mb-12 leading-normal\">\n<p class=\"[&amp;_em]:font-serif-text-italic [&amp;_cite]:font-serif-text-italic\">A candlelight vigil for the victims of the Nepal disaster was due to be held in Auckland&#8217;s Aotea Square on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>rnz<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A flash flood and landslide hit the Nepal-China border on Wednesday Police in Nepal say 362 bodies have been found Hundreds of tourists are among more than 1000 people missing Five Kiwis are among the missing, MFAT says It&#8217;s believed a glacier collapse may have caused the disaster Horrifying pictures of the\u00a0Nepal flash flood\u00a0are being [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":18354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[174,177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nz-news","category-world"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18353"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18355,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18353\/revisions\/18355"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}