The call they missed is the one that the family of Mahendra Vishwakarma regrets most. A mechanical fitter at a hydropower project in Nepal, Vishwakarma called at 8 am on August 25.

That was the last call that came from his number. “We could not answer the call for some reason. After that, his calls stopped coming, and his number also stopped connecting. Maybe he was calling to tell us about the flood,” his younger brother Vikas tells .

Vishwakarma is one of hundreds of Indians still missing since flash floods swept parts of Nepal and Tibet this week. The death toll from the floods, caused by a glacier collapse, has reached 626, with thousands – including Indian nationals – still unaccounted for.

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As the body count rises, families like that of 50-year-old Vishwakarma wait in dread, fearing the worst. Vishwakarma worked with ANDRITZ Hydropower and had been working in Nepal since April.

After that call, the family learnt of the flash floods and have been trying to locate him, with authorities telling them that several workers were missing and that search efforts were underway.

“Since August 26, there has been no contact. We have tried repeatedly, but his phone is neither connecting nor have we received any information,” brother Vikas says. Adds Vishwakarma’s wife Kalawati: “We don’t know where he is or what condition he is in.”

Between these words is the unspoken fear: Is he dead?

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The family approached the Mohammadganj police station in Palamu, as well as political representatives and government officials, for assistance.

For her part, Shikha Lakra, head of the Jharkhand Migrant Workers Control Room, says the Palamu case was still being kept under the “missing” category.

An Indian representative of ANDRITZ Hydropower, who is coordinating with the team in Nepal, confirmed that authorities were looking for Mahendra Vishwakarma. In a statement issued on August 29, ANDRITZ Hydropower said it was engaged as the contractor for the electromechanical and hydromechanical works of the 216 MW Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project and that several of its direct employees and contracted personnel were at the site when the disaster occurred.

Several personnel had been rescued and moved to safer locations with assistance from Nepalese authorities, local agencies and the Indian Embassy, but “some colleagues remain unaccounted for”. “Teams were working with local authorities and agencies to locate them,” it said.

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ANDRITZ has provided helpline numbers for families seeking information: ANDRITZ India – +91-9311906260 and ANDRITZ Nepal – +977-9716236425.

With no news, the family is seeking the Jharkhand government’s help to travel to Nepal. But as they keep their hopes alive, there’s a quiet anxiety: what will happen to the family after Vishwakarma? “He is the only earning member of the family. He has four school-going children and elderly parents. We cannot even think about it. Wherever God has kept him, we hope he’s safe,” says Kalawati.