A Bay Area tech worker is among dozens of Americans still missing after catastrophic flash flooding in Nepal.
Prabhath Sajeepa, 48, of Milpitas, California, was named by Nepali authorities on Thursday as one of 65 U.S. Citizens reported missing after the disaster struck Wednesday near the Nepal-Tibet border. The flooding has killed more than 300 people and left thousands more unaccounted for.
Sajeepa has worked as an engineering leader at Pure Storage, a Santa Clara-based data storage company, since 2016, according to his LinkedIn profile. Prior to that role, he worked at software development giant Cisco.
His niece, Kavya Koulagi Jayatheertha, said that her uncle had been involved with the Isha Foundation for several years. The nonprofit spiritual organization offers yoga programs worldwide.
A group connected to the foundation was traveling in the flood zone when disaster struck, Jayatheertha said. Eighty members of that group remain missing, including 22 from the United States.
“It has been terrible,” Jayatheertha added. “I hope he is somewhere safe.”
Jaggi Vasudev, the Isha Foundation’s leader, posted a video on Thursday describing the final moments before the flood hit his followers. The group was inside an immigration building at Gyirong shortly before the structure was swept away, he said.
The last message Vasudev received from the group leader came just nine minutes before the flood struck.
“This is a terrible and an extraordinary event,” Vasudev said in the video.
The flooding is believed to have been triggered when the lower portion of a glacier broke away from approximately 17,000 feet and crashed into a valley floor, creating what’s known as an ice avalanche. The resulting torrent of water and debris obliterated homes, roads, and businesses across the region.
Tibetan officials expressed fears of “major casualties” in the aftermath, according to local media reports. At least 19 bridges and nearly 25 miles of road were destroyed, with several villages and hydropower projects also wiped out.
The U.S. Embassy in Nepal said it was coordinating with local authorities and tour operators to locate affected Americans. U.S. Officials said approximately 90 American citizens remained unaccounted for as of Thursday, with three people rescued.
The Isha Foundation group represents a significant portion of the missing Americans, though Sajeepa’s individual circumstances within the broader disaster remain unclear. His family continues to await news as international rescue and recovery efforts proceed in the remote Himalayan region.
The U.S. State Department has not announced additional rescue figures since Thursday’s update.