DNA samples from direct family members of the six South Africans missing in Nepal, including Terricia Govender, have been requested by the Nepalese government while the search continues for them.

South Coast Sun reports that this comes after three weeks of unanswered questions and searching since Terricia (33) went missing following a flash flood that struck the Nepal-Tibet border.

The SA High Commissioner to India, Nepal and Bangladesh, Anil Sooklal, said the High Commission facilitated handing the DNA samples over to the Nepalese authorities recently.

Terricia’s mother, Linda Govender, who flew to Nepal to join the search operations, has vowed to keep searching until she is found. She also said she does not regret accusing the organisers of the pilgrimage that Terricia had embarked on of offering no support.

Hope that she will find her daughter is reignited every time a survivor is found. The last person found alive was a 64-year-old woman found on the fourth floor of her partially buried house after being trapped for 10 days.

Of the 88 members of the pilgrimage to Mount Kailash who went missing after the flood destroyed the Gyirong immigration office while they were inside, none have been found. The flash flood was triggered after a Himalayan glacier collapsed near the Tibetan border on August 27, sending a massive surge of water, ice, rock and mud through mountain valleys.

Two weeks after Terricia went missing, Linda came down strongly on Jagadish ‘Sadhguru’ Vasudev and his Isha Foundation for its apparent lack of support to families that had lost pilgrims.

“Yes, I’ve been angry, and I’ve vented my frustration. I have spoken strongly about Jaggi (Sadhguru) and the Isha Foundation, and I make no apology for expressing what I feel because when your child is missing, you don’t have the luxury of remaining silent and comfortable,” said Linda.

On the ground, Linda has worked with Nepalese authorities in her search, and despite the language barrier, she has gone from village to village, trying to get any useful information. She has appealed to any organisation, government authority, influential people, spiritual leaders, business people, and every person who has the ability to assist to come forward and offer help.

The latest situation update puts the toll at 1 385 dead, 104 identified and returned to families and 5 130 people still out of contact.

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