Families of missing pilgrims in Tibet demand answers from China

Priyanka Choudhary, an Indian-born Finnish citizen returning from a Hindu pilgrimage in Tibet, was at a border crossing with Nepal when a catastrophic mudslide hit.

She is one of 261 foreign nationals still missing in Tibet 10 days after the disaster, and her family and others seeking lost relatives are expressing frustration at Beijing’s response.

“There is no information on the China side,” said Choudhary’s brother Tarun.

“We can’t go to China and talk to anyone, so I’m not able to understand how things are… There is no update from China about what is happening at Ground Zero, what is the situation over there.”

The mudslide that devastated the Tibet-Nepal border last week killed more than 1,300 people, with more than 5,600 missing on both sides.

In Tibet, at least 31 people have been confirmed dead and 531 are missing in all, state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday.

However, several families of those missing allege an information blackout in China, worsening their agony.

“We are not getting anything from China, whether my sister is safe or alive or dead,” said Naresh Goyal, brother of Neetu Goyal Tiwari, a 51-year-old British national.

According to Goyal, UK police visited his sister’s family home a few days ago to collect a DNA sample from her daughter to present it to Chinese authorities.

China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the accusations, the timeline for victim identification, or DNA collection protocols being used on the Tibetan side.

It has said it has been holding briefings for embassies representing 23 countries and on Monday it said its release of information about the floods was “transparent and timely”.

Beijing has also said it is ready to work with other countries and agencies to identify the dead.

It has sent a group of DNA identification experts to Nepal, which has borne the brunt of the devastation.

In Nepal, authorities, including the police, regularly share information on those missing and dead on social media, while search efforts have been accompanied by active DNA testing.

China called diplomats from countries with missing citizens reported in Nepal for a briefing last week in Beijing.

Diplomats who attended said Beijing shared no details on how it planned to proceed with DNA identification of victims.

In addition, China has not offered to provide video from its side of the land port, including facial-recognition images, that could be shared with families or used in identifying the dead, diplomats in contact with China’s foreign ministry said.

They asked not to be named because the conversations remain private.

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