Virar: Former Virar municipal president Pradeep Tendolkar and 25 others had a narrow escape from the devastating floods in Nepal after the hotel where they had stayed in Kathmandu was swept away barely four hours after they checked out.Tendolkar and his group had left for the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage on August 22 and reached Kathmandu on August 25. They checked into a hotel while waiting for their Tibet visas. The visas were issued around 7pm, close to the closing time of the visa office, prompting the group to leave the hotel early the following morning, August 26.Around 9am, barely four hours after they had left, a massive flood hit the area and swept away the hotel. By then, Tendolkar and his companions had reached the Dolma La Pass safely.Tendolkar later sent a video message from Dolma La Pass to his family, informing them that he and all his companions were safe. “We were the last batch to reach here. The route was closed after that. Had we received the visas any later, we would have had to stay back at the hotel. It could have resulted in a major tragedy,” Tendolkar said in the video.
