'The Nepalese friends I made after the 2015 earthquake are suffering again – and praying for their relatives'

'The Nepalese friends I created after the 2015 earthquake are suffering again – and praying for their relatives' In 2015, the Mirror's Andy Lines covered the devastating earthquake in Nepal that left almost 9, 000 dead – now the friends he created.

Key points

• The tally includes 33 British individuals – including a 13-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy.
• Choose Daily Mirror as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.
• The village of Soley in Nuwakot, with regarding 25 has been virtually wiped out in the flooding.
• They took place next to the sacred Bagmati River at the historic Pashupatinath Temple and we watched as the ashes were then swept into the river.
• She and husband Bhakta, had dug the lifeless body of their 18-month-old daughter Sapana from the ruins of their house.

Nepal is a country which has sadly become all too applied to dealing with tragedy.

Rescue teams are searching for hundreds of missing individuals after a deadly torrent of floods and mud swept through communities after a glacier collapse.

Buildings and bridges have been swept away as the deluge forged relentlessly on, swallowing up individuals and homes in its path. At least 273 individuals are dead and more than 1, 300 missing.

Rescuers have discovered bodies hundreds of kilometres downstream from the disaster district and dozens of injured residents have been transported to Kathmandu for advanced medical care.

Meanwhile, the tally includes 33 British individuals – including a 13-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy. Nepal's Tourism Board notes 517 of those missing are foreign nationals – including 178 from India, some of whom were on a sacred Hindu pilgrimage.

But It is far from the first time this mountain nation has faced tragedy on such a devastating scale. In 2015 I travelled there after the horrendous earthquake which killed 9, 000 individuals.

Back then there were chillingly similar scenes to yesterday with buildings and bridges being completely destroyed. Entire neighbourhoods were left in ruins – razed to the ground.

In practice, the "fixers" I applied on that assignment have become good friends. I immediately messaged them yesterday after news of the terrible flash floods broke.

I didn't hear from them for hours on end and became increasingly worried until they suddenly marked themself as "safe" on a Facebook page.

To my massive relief, my friends afterwards messaged me on Whatsapp to let me know they were safe and in the Nepalese capital of Katmandu. One, Adhikhari remarked: "We have relatives in that region and we have not heard from them yet. We just pray they are ok."

Notably, the village of Soley in Nuwakot, with regarding 25 has been virtually wiped out in the flooding. Nirajan Paudyal, a Kathmandu-based journalist whose parents and other relatives live there.

Desperate for information, he traveled to the area on Thursday for news of his family. "There is no update till now. I fear there won't be any update, " Paudyal remarked.

It is all too reminiscent of the terrible scenes I witnessed In 2015. This week Nepalese authorities stated dozens of bridges have been destroyed and almost 25 miles of roads damaged.

While it has impoved over recent years, in the country still isn't great, some of the regions hit are quite remote and the transport infrastructure. Back then I crossed some of those bridges which were swept away yesterday.

Photographer Rowan Griffiths and I were caught in a second quake three days afterwards and were forced to flee to safety. We watched dozens of funerals in the capital as bodies were cremated on open log pyres.

I particularly remember session one mum Chandra Kumari. She and husband Bhakta, had dug the lifeless body of their 18-month-old daughter Sapana from the ruins of their house.

Notably, the grieving mum remarked: "She was sleeping in the next room but I just could not secure to her to save her when the earthquake struck. She was born here but I never projected her to die here."

Of all the assignments I've undertaken previously 30 years for the Daily Mirror the Nepalese were the nicest individuals I met. To a person they were so friendly and polite. Even in the midst of great tragedy they were so kind taking us to their houses to meet their loved ones.

Meanwhile, the Nepalese individuals will of course react to this latest tragedy with typical bravery and stoicism. But I fear the death toll will rise dramatically.

They have a relatatively new Prime Minister – Balendra Shah. He was only elected in March and he is just 36-years-old and this will be a stern test of his leadership.

Taken together, the developments around ' The Nepalese friends I made after the 2015 earthquake are suffering again point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.