11 Indian-Origin US Citizens On Kailash Trip Missing After Nepal Floods

A promise to make a video call from Kailash Mansarovar on the full moon day has turned into an agonising wait for one family in Delhi, after the man who made it went missing along with ten others during Nepal's devastating floods.

Anil Goyal, a US citizen originally from Delhi, was leading a group of 11 US citizens of Indian origin when they vanished from the Ruswa Garhi immigration centre in China. Among the group was Infosys executive Gopi Shetty. Relatives in Delhi have appealed to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Indian government for help.

Goyal had retired from the World Bank just last year. An experienced Himalayan traveller and a marathon runner, he held a deep passion for both the mountains and spirituality. He moved to the US in 1993 from Delhi, where he worked as an IT engineer for several major companies. Following his retirement, he pursued his favourite pursuits, spiritual journeys and trekking in the Himalayas.

His wife, Anita Goyal, is currently in the US with their two children.

Travelling with Goyal were Infosys employees Lakshminath Gopishetty and Srinivas Sudhir, Canada-based individuals of Indian origin Mahendra Gupta, Keshav Rao, Venkat, Venkat Bala Subramanyam, Vivek Srivastava, Sudhindra and Kirti Acharya, along with Nepali mountaineer Chet Bhatta.

Goyal's brothers-in-law, Vipin Gupta and Ajay Gupta, and their families have said they are deeply concerned. Speaking to NDTV, Vipin Gupta said that when he last spoke to Goyal on August 25, his brother-in-law had sounded very happy and had promised to make a video call to everyone on August 27, the full moon day, during the pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar.

On August 26, Goyal and the other 11 team members completed immigration formalities at the Ruswa Garhi immigration centre. Since then, his phone's location has been traced to Ruswa Garhi, but there has been no further news of his whereabouts.

Ajay Gupta said that families of 65 missing US citizens have signed and submitted a petition to Marco Rubio, urging him to help expedite relief and rescue operations.

Relatives of another missing man, Vinod Goyal, said he had previously completed the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage twice. Following his return from this latest trip, he had been due to travel to Kailash Mansarovar again on September 18 with another American group.