Smiles before the disaster: Millionaire family from Surrey including a former Mrs India UK pose with Nepal tour group before flash flood hit… as hunt for 33 missing British tourists continues

A millionaire family-of-four from Surrey including a former Mrs India UK are among the missing Britons in Nepal following a devastating flash flood this week. 

Days on from the initial disaster, rescuers are still working through mud and debris left behind by the flood along the Himalayan border between Nepal and China-controlled Tibet.

Police in Nepal said on Friday morning that the country’s death toll had risen to 469 from 390 a day earlier. China had not updated its report of three deaths in Tibet. Together, the two countries have said more than 1,500 people are missing. 

Among the missing are ex-banker and beauty pageant winner Surabhi Sahu, 44, her businessman husband Santosh, 46, their son Spandan, 18, and daughter Syna, 13, who were on an adventure trek across the Nepal-China border. 

Mr and Mrs Sahu ran a successful technology company in London together before he set up a thriving pharmaceutical business. The family live in a £1.3million six-bedroom house in Cobham, Surrey.

They travelled to India last week and then went for the trekking break in Nepal-Tibet, and were due to return in ten days before the start of the new school year.

A poignant final photograph of them with their group – mostly Britons – on the Alpine Eco Tours trip shows them happy and laughing as they pose by their bus amid the stunning peaks of the Himalayas.

The group was last heard from as they crossed the frontier from Nepal into Tibet – at the exact moment a horrifying 600ft torrent of ice, mud and rocks engulfed the Giyrong border crossing with CCTV footage showing people running for their lives.

The organisers of the tour group say they have been frantically trying to reach them ever since. There are hopes the tourists are alive and waiting to be rescued, but phone lines are down and even the military are struggling to reach the mountainous area.

The Sadu family were well travelled and on a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to Mount Kalisash, a religious site for Hindus and Buddhists in Tibet.

Among those still missing is Samitra Sapkota (pictured, left), the 25-year-old wife of British man Pramod Poudel (pictured, right) 

Mrs Sadu is a high-flying chemistry graduate from Mumbai who became a banker before moving to Ireland to work for Dell Computers. 

Her husband Santosh is an Irish citizen, and the family moved to Surrey where they became beacons of their community.

In 2018, Mrs Sadu won the Mrs India UK beauty contest – after being encouraged to enter it by her family – which she described as ‘a dream come true’. 

She added it showcased ‘the best in women… not just in respect of physical beauty but in the many other capacities in which they are not always acknowledged or appreciated’.

As well as her successful business career, Mrs Sadu is an avid reader who promotes literature to her legion of Instagram followers. She has posted photos of herself visiting favourite spots of England, including her beloved Cotswolds.

Her former banker husband Santosh has gone from strength to strength and is the founder and CEO of Charac, a digital platform helping pharmacies improve deliveries to patients.

Their son Spandan is due to start a law degree at Durham University.

Neighbours in Cobham spoke of their shock at hearing the news that the family are missing, describing them as popular and well-loved members of the community.

Jen Sutton told the Daily Mail: ‘They’re a wonderful family and Surabhi, who we call Sue, is a beautiful and caring woman.

Mrs Sadu (pictured) is a high-flying chemistry graduate from Mumbai who became a banker before moving to Ireland to work for Dell Computers

In 2018, Mrs Sadu won the Mrs India UK beauty contest – after being encouraged to enter it by her family

Pramod Poudel’s mother Tulisa (pictured) and brother Pradip (pictured, right)

Pramod Poudel (right) with his wife Samitra, who is missing alongside Pramod’s mother, brother and uncle

Sarada Simkhada, a senior nurse at the Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford, left for Nepal last Saturday for a pilgrimage 

An aerial view shows houses lying deluged in sludge after flash floods at Devighat, Bidur Municipality, along the confluence of the Trishuli and Tadi rivers in Nepal’s Nuwakot district on August 27, 2026

‘She helps to care for me and is an absolutely delightful and charming person. We’re devastated by this news and are praying that they’ll be ok.’

The family purchased their home seven years ago after moving to the UK from Ireland. Santosh and Surabhi were both born in India and studied at prestigious universities in the country.

Ms Sutton added: ‘They travel to India regularly and had gone on short trip to visit Santosh’s dad who’s not been well. Nepal was just a little adventure for them before returning home.

‘They told me that they planned to get home in time for Syna’s school. I hope to god that they’re found and come home.’

Rescuers continue to search for the thousands still missing, as Nepali and Chinese authorities warned of further flooding from a lake that formed upstream after Wednesday’s disaster and was already overflowing. They urged people in potentially affected areas to move to safer ground.

Among those still missing is Samitra Sapkota, the 25-year-old wife of British man Pramod Poudel. 

Poudel, a 35-year-old Briton who runs a Nepalese street food company in Sussex, told The Times on Thursday evening that he had spoken to his wife the day of the flood and that everything was fine: ‘I was talking to my wife at 4.30am on Wednesday and everything was absolutely fine.

‘After 6am I phoned her again and of course I couldn’t get through … I initially thought it was only a small flood so I didn’t think anything of it.’

A flood-hit area in Nuwakot, Nepal on Thursday, August 27, 2026

Nabhi Das from Streatham in South London also remains unaccounted for

Leena Bector, 53, from Slough, Berkshire, has also not been heard of after travelling to the region to see the Himalayas

She was living in Sole village in the Nuwakot district of Nepal, which has been devastated by the flood. 

The couple have been married for just four months. He met Samitra in Croatia. 

Also missing are his mother Tulisa, brother Pradip and uncle Madav. His father Purusottam has been found alive.

Before he got on a plane to head east last night, Mr Poudel said: ‘I have seen pictures of where my hometown used to be, where my family used to live – my mum, my dad, my brother, my wife…there’s nothing there.

‘The bridges are broken so no one can get there.’  

Nepal police say water dam on the Tibet side has burst again. All security personnel, rescue workers and members of the public deployed in rescue and relief efforts were told to remain on high alert and immediately move to a safe location if necessary. 

Sunil Amin, from Croydon, described the ‘horrible, horrible feeling’ of repeatedly trying to phone his wife, Hema Amin, 63, who was on a pilgrimage with Alpine Eco trek from Nepal to Tibet with her sister.

People work to clear the debris around their houses following flash floods and a mudslide in Trishuli, Nuwakot district, Nepal, August 28, 2026

People stand next to their damaged properties following flash floods and a mudslide in Trishuli, Nuwakot district, Nepal, August 28, 2026

Lost: Pramod Poudel, left, from Sussex, in Nepal with his family, many of whom are missing

‘I keep trying to call her. I’ve been trying, trying, trying,’ he said. ‘It just rings out or doesn’t get through. I’m devastated.’

Sarada Simkhada, 55, was also on a pilgrimage, following in the footsteps of thousands of other Hindus up Mount Kailash. 

The mountain is a sacred site for both Hindus and Buddhists, and is believed to be the cosmic home of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. 

Sarada, a senior nurse who lives in Dartford, had travelled to Nepal on Saturday before she joined other pilgrims. 

Her childhood friend Rajendra Pudasaini said she is known for taking part in the community and always ‘working incredibly hard’ at Darent Valley Hospital. 

Sarada trained as a nurse in Kathmandu, before moving to London. Her relatives were last in contact with her when she was staying at the Kailash Hotel in Timure on the Nepal-China border, where she was waiting for Chinese customs officers to approve her visa. 

Roshan Panday, owner of Fishtail Tours and Travels Group, had a tour group of 27 including Briton Leena Bector, 53, from Slough, and he said ‘no one is answering their phones’.

He said they had sent a video just nine minutes before the disaster struck, adding: ‘Absolutely everything’s under the mud. We tried calling the drivers. We tried calling the guides. We tried calling them all, but no one was answering.’

An elderly survivor is transported to a safer place in heavy machinery following flash flood and mudslide at Trishuli in Nuwakot district, Nepal, August 26, 2026

A barrier lake which formed after a landslide near where Nepal’s Chhochen Khola River flows into the Purepu Tsangpo River, in Gyirong county, in China’s Tibet region, seen on Augusy 27, 2026 

Soldiers help a family disembark from a helicopter after they are rescued from an area cut off by flash flooding in Nepal’s Nuwakot district, August 28, 2026

Ms Bector’s husband, Bhupesh Bector, told The Times he was frantically checking his iPhone to check her location but it had not changed for more than seven hours. 

He flew out last night, saying: ‘I know that she’s in Nepal for sure, so even if they find her today or tomorrow, I need to be there.’ 

Another missing Briton is Nabhi Das, from Streatham in south London, family members confirmed. The University of Kent graduate, originally from Kenya and thought to work in finance, has not been heard from.  

The flooding was likely caused by a huge chunk of a glacier that broke off and temporarily dammed a river, according to preliminary investigations by scientists. 

That may have led to the backed-up water surging downstream with enormous force a few hours later, they suggested.

Scientists are still piecing together information from satellite and ground-level data to figure out exactly what happened to cause the flood.

The US Geological Survey on Wednesday reported a magnitude 5.2 glacier collapse that sent debris flowing downstream with catastrophic impact on communities. 

Rescuer help women to move through a muddy road following flash floods and a mudslide in Trishuli, Nuwakot district, Nepal, August 28, 2026.

A drone view of firefighters conducting search and rescue operations at a damaged road leading to Gyirong Port after a mudslide, in Gyirong county, Shigatse, Tibet Autonomous Region, China August 28, 2026

It said its determination was based on data from nearby seismic stations, long period seismic waves and satellite imagery.

Scientists said it is too early to draw a direct connection between global warming and Wednesday’s catastrophe.

However, they said that as Earth’s temperature rises because of human activities such as burning oil, gas and coal, the chances of such disasters increase, especially in the Himalayan mountains, which are warming considerably faster than many other parts of the world.