Ladysmith residents gathered for a prayer meeting for those missing in Nepal
Image: Claudine Senekal
Ladysmith united in prayer on Sunday afternoon for six South Africans who remain missing after devastating floods and mudslides struck the Nepal-Tibet border.
Religious leaders from different faiths gathered on the grounds opposite the Ganesha Temple on Azalea Drive to pray for the missing and their families, as well as those affected by the disaster in Nepal.
Among those missing are Ladysmith residents Surendranath Maharaj, 74, and his wife, Anita Devi Maharaj, 67, and Vivaganathan “Tony” Pillay, 66, and his wife, Janet Pillay, 56.
The other missing South Africans are Bavila Ramjee, 43, from East London, and Terricia Govender, 33, from Isipingo Beach.
One community, one prayer: Ladysmith stands together for six South Africans missing in Nepal.
Image: Claudine Senekal
Ladysmith gathers to pray for six South Africans missing in Nepal.
Image: Claudine Senekal
A community in prayer: Ladysmith stands with the families of six South Africans missing in Nepal.
Image: Claudine Senekal
Ladysmith couple Surendranath Maharaj, 74, and Anita Devi Maharaj, 67; East London woman Bavila Ramjee, 43; another South African couple, Vivaganathan Pillay, 66, and Janet Pillay, 56; and Isipingo Beach woman Terricia Govender, 33. The six South Africans are missing after devastating flash floods struck the Nepal-Tibet border.
Image: Gift of the Givers
According to Gift of the Givers, the Maharajs were last known to be travelling on the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage route near the Nepal-Tibet border when the flash flood and mudslide struck on August 26. The Pillays were travelling with the Alpine Eco Trek & Expedition group and are believed to have gone missing at the Nepal-Tibet/China border.
The disaster followed a glacier collapse in Tibet that sent a wall of water and debris through Nepal’s Rasuwa district, destroying roads, bridges and villages. Access to affected areas has been severely disrupted.
Gift of the Givers has placed specialist search-and-rescue teams, including SAPS dog handlers and trained dogs, on standby while remaining in contact with Nepalese authorities.
In Ladysmith, the prayer gathering offered a moment of solidarity as the community held on to hope for news of the six missing South Africans.
Pillay is well known in the Ladysmith and Estcourt communities for his involvement in religious structures, including assisting with the construction of the temple’s towering 17-metre Ganesha statue.
The gathering brought together people of different faiths in a shared expression of hope, support and prayer for the missing and their loved ones.
IOL
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