Relatives who travelled to Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal district to search for missing Nepalis in last Wednesday’s deadly landslide in Bankura village have returned home after failing to locate their whereabouts. After five days of combing the debris and surrounding terrain, they abandoned hope of finding survivors.

The missing include Narendra Khadka of ward 5 of Madhuwan Municipality in Bardiya district; his wife Sandhya; their 18-month-old son Roman; Amrita Pariyar of the same ward; and Subash Damai of ward 4 of Gulariya Municipality. All were wage workers involved in road construction when the landslide struck.

Narendra’s father Chudamani and brother-in-law Navin Thapa reached Bankura soon after the disaster. Subash’s father Som Bahadur reached the Indian village on Saturday. Amrita’s husband Ramu Pariyar and his brother Hari are still at the site. “We have given up hope,” said Hari. “After four or five days of searching, we realised it was futile. Everyone has gone home to perform funeral rites.”

Subash had moved to Bankura just a month ago after low earnings in Punjab. His parents had left their youngest son in Bardiya to work in Uttarkashi. “It had been only 29 days since he started work when the landslide took him,” said Som Bahadur. “We searched all day, but found nothing. Now we will perform his final rites at home.”

The disaster also injured Amrita’s daughter Laxmi, whose leg surgery is being carried out at Sushila Tiwari Hospital in Haldwani. Ramu will remain there until her recovery. Another seriously injured Nepali, Bhupendra Khatri of Bardiya, underwent surgery at a local health institution. “We spent 20,000 rupees for initial treatment before the Uttarakhand government covered further costs,” said rescuer Chitra Bahadur Paudel, who himself was injured during the search.

Nepal’s embassy in New Delhi confirmed Sunday evening that eight Nepalis remain missing in Uttarkashi’s Dharali area following a separate disaster. According to embassy counsellor Prakash Malla, 13 people—among them five from the Pauri Garhwal landslide—are missing across disaster-hit Uttarakhand, while 13 others have been rescued.

The Dharali tragedy unfolded last Tuesday when a local river, swollen by torrential rain, swept through the small market town, destroying houses and hotels. Local officials fear more than 50 people were buried, including hotel workers and pilgrims bound for the Hindu shrine of Gangotri. Dharali is the last settlement before Gangotri, with hotels catering to pilgrims and tourists.

Thousands of Nepalis—mainly from Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces—work in Uttarakhand’s road projects, hotels and agriculture. Drawn by seasonal wages, many live in vulnerable hillside settlements prone to landslides and flash floods. While disasters like Pauri Garhwal’s landslide and Dharali’s flood are not uncommon, the absence of formal work permits or insurance leaves migrant families with little recourse when tragedy strikes.