Bhubaneswar: It has been more than 24 hours since disaster struck Nepal, and family members of Odia couple Sandeep Mohapatra (43) and Sidharthi Kumari Sahu (39) are waiting for a miracle.Based in Melbourne, Sandeep and Sidharthi had gone to Nepal from where they were supposed to go on Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. On Tuesday, their 12-year-old son had returned with a relative to Khurda, where his grandparents live.“They reached Nepal on Aug 22. We last spoke on Tuesday. They were travelling in a bus. The next day, after we learnt about the flash flood, we tried to contact them, but they are unreachable,” said Swarup Mohapatra (40), the younger brother of Sandeep, who stays in Khurda. “They had gone on a pilgrimage. We have left it to the Almighty,” he added.Sandeep, an engineer, and Sidharthi, an IT professional, had moved to Australia in 2018. Sandeep parents stay in Khurda while Sidharthi’s parents live in Ambapua village near Berhampur in Ganjam district..Sandeep’s cousin Soumya, a homemaker in Bhubaneswar, said the family is fearing the worst. The couple was part of the group and had travelled to one of the areas worst affected by the flash flood. “We got a call from Indian authorities saying there is no information about them. With every passing hour, our hopes are fading,” Soumya said.The couple was undergoing immigration formalities at Rasuwagadhi on the Nepal-Tibet border when disaster struck, a representative of the travel agency that facilitated the tour said.The couple left Kathmandu on Tuesday. The next day, they were on their way for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, their travel agent, Rajan Shrestha, told TOI on the phone from Kathmandu. “When I contacted my staff at 7.30 am on Wednesday, they were all heading towards the border to prepare for the yatra,” Shrestha said.Members of the Odia community in Australia described the couple as well-known faces. “Recently, we celebrated Rath Yatra and Raja. Both were very active in organising the events, particularly Sidharthi, who guided children during the cultural programmes,” said Manoranjan Nayak, a close family friend from Melbourne. Members of ORIOZ are in touch with travel agents to gather information about the couple, said its national president, Tapas Senapati.