Kathmandu, April 7
Last year’s earthquakes devastated Langtang, a major tourist attraction.
About a year into the disaster, the victims lie buried under the debris resulting from the quake-induced avalanches. While a sense of a profound loss is still there, Langtang is rising, rising from the ashes of destruction like a phoenix with the number of tourists increasing by the day.
In the avalanches, a large number of Langtang locals and foreign tourists went missing, while some people managed to escape in the nick of time. Government officials say they have failed to collect the data for kins to inform about the missing people.
Avadesh Bista, deputy superintendent of police in Rasuwa, says people, who visited Langtang before the disaster, are coming back to this place. Some may have lost their friends, while some others may have wanted to know how the place has changed after the disaster, he said.
Several embassies based in Nepal have sent the data on foreign nationals who may have gone missing in the disaster to Rasuwa district police office. So far, the office has received information that 21 foreigners went missing in the disaster.
German, American and Spanish embassies approach Rasuwa offices to inquire about the status of their missing nationals.
It was not only foreigners but hundreds of Nepalis went missing as well. But rarely do kin come to inquire about the disaster with entire families going missing in the disaster. DPO has prepared forms to collect details of the missing. But hardly anyone has come forward to fill up the forms.
DPO records show police have already handed over the bodies of 187 victims caught in the disaster.
