US couple's last-minute detour saved them from Nepal floods that killed 1,400

From the Newshound archive · first published 23 September 2026.

Mita and Hemant Parikh from Suwanee, Georgia were on a 15-year-planned Hindu pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet when Hemant spontaneously suggested a side trip to Lhasa and Everest Base Camp not on the group's itinerary. When they returned, their hotel had been completely destroyed by the August flash floods. All seven guides accompanying their group of 47 pilgrims are still missing.

The Parikhs were part of a group of 47 travellers from the US, Australia and other countries — none of the seven guides have been found.

'That's what we talk to each other every single day — why did we decide this way?' Mita said of the detour that saved their lives.

The couple had spent 15 years planning the pilgrimage; Mita credited God, while Hemant admitted he simply wanted a glimpse of the world's highest peak.