A 21-member group of Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims from Tamil Nadu were brought to the Chennai Airport late on the night of August 28, after what they called a series of miracles helped them escape the floods in Nepal.

A 21-member group of Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims from Tamil Nadu were brought to the Chennai Airport late on the night of August 28, after what they called a series of miracles helped them escape the floods in Nepal.

A 21-member group of Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims from Tamil Nadu were brought to the Chennai Airport late on the night of August 28, after what they called a series of miracles helped them escape the floods in Nepal.

A group of Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims from Tamil Nadu on Saturday recalled how they had come within five feet of the deadly floodwaters that have ravaged various parts of Nepal over the past few days, and yet lived to tell the tale.

A pilgrim named Sivaranjani was among the 21-member group who arrived at the Chennai Airport late on Friday night, and were received by state ministers N. Anand and D. Sarathkumar, who ensured their immediate welfare and return home.

Sivaranjani recalled how it was a series of miracles that saved her group from being swept away after a sudden mountain storm blocked the mountain pass between Syabru base and Kerung and turned it into a death trap.

"I have to say that God saved us by five feet," she told PTI, recalling the harrowing moment when the vehicle they were in got blocked on three sides, with a destructive wave of floodwater rushing past just five feet away from them.

With heavy torrents of rain continuing to hit the mountain as the wall of water rushed past, the door to the right of the driver emerged as their only point of exit.

Once out, many of the pilgrims tried their best to scale the steep, slippery, muddy incline on the side of their vehicle, in order to get to safety.

She then recalled the next miracle—a couple from Mayavaram who did the unthinkable amid the crisis.

Using his wife Poonguzhali's sari as a makeshift rope, Ratnakumar got down into the danger zone again even after the two managed to escape it. He then pulled the stranded women up to safety, one-by-one, with his wife assisting him in the rescue efforts.

"Everyone who climbed up out of fear for their lives would be reluctant to come down again, but he went back," an emotional Sivaranjani said, adding that the pilgrims prostrated before the two out of respect.

The final battle was mental, rather than physical—from their vantage point, the group had to survive in harsh mountain conditions on minimal rations—mostly snacks and bottled water provided by locals.

Relief arrived two days later, arranged by Indian Embassy officials, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), and Tamil Nadu ministers who had maintained constant contact with them throughout.

Though they lost original documents in the chaos, they were assured that replacement passports would be delivered directly to their homes.

The Nepal crisis in numbers

According to the latest estimates from the MEA, 88 Indian nationals have been rescued so far from Nepal—including four who were rescued on Saturday from a hydropower project in Rasuwa.

287 Indians are among the nearly 2,400 people who are still missing, with the death toll rising to 669 on Saturday as search and rescue operations pressed ahead amid renewed rainfall, rising water levels, and fears of further flooding in the Bhote Koshi River basin.

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