‘I will not give up hope’: Durban mother heads to Nepal to find missing daughter

Despite warnings about further flooding, Isipingo Beach mother Linda Govender plans to travel to Nepal on Thursday to search for her missing daughter.

Terricia Govender, 33, was on pilgrimage with the Isha Foundation S3 travel group, at the immigration office on the Tibet-Nepal border when the flash floods hit last Wednesday.

Terricia is one of six South Africans who have been reported missing after the floods.

The other missing pilgrims are Ladysmith couples, Vivaganathan Pillay, 66, and his wife Janet, 56 and 74-year-old Surendranath Maharaj and his wife Anitha, 67.

The Pillays were a part of a group from Alpine Eco Trek and Expedition, while the Maharajs were on the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage route.

Emile Domun, the son-in-law of the Maharajs, said they were also praying for the couple’s safety.

“There is no news at the moment. As a family, we keep praying and that is all we can do. It is all in God's hands now,” he said.

The sixth missing person is 43-year-old Barika Ramjee from East London.

She was travelling with Kailash Journeys and is believed to have been near the border at the time of the floods.

Govender said her daughter started her pilgrimage on August 12 and had been looking forward to it for months.

She was travelling alone but was part of a larger tour group from the Isha Foundation, who were returning from the Mount Kailash Yatra when the catastrophe happened.

Govender said Terricia always wanted to do the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, a sacred pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar in Nepal.

She said the last time she spoke to her daughter was on August 25 (Tuesday).

“On Wednesday, at about 2.30pm, we got an email from the foundation saying she was part of the group which was at the border and was now missing.