US Couple's Last-Minute Detour Saves Them From Deadly Flood

A last-minute detour to Everest may be the only reason Mita and Hemant Parikh are alive. The Suwanee, Georgia, couple had spent 15 years planning a spiritual journey to Mount Kailash in Tibet before joining 45 other pilgrims and seven guides. When unexpected free time opened up during the "bucket list" trip, they broke from the group for a rare spur-of-the-moment excursion to Lhasa and Everest Base Camp, per CBS News. While they were gone, a powerful flash flood tore through the Himalayan river valley where their companions were staying near the Nepal-Tibet border, wiping out their hotel.

A month later, no one from the missing families or guides has been located, dead or alive. Back in Atlanta, the Parikhs are wrestling with grief, survivor's guilt, and a question Mita says keeps her up at night: "Why God chose us to live." She says the couple don't usually book spontaneous excursions and "I don't know why we both agreed." Now, "as soon as I close my eyes, I see Kailash, and I see the people," Mita tells CBS. "I don't know what happened." At least 1,400 people have died and more than 6,000 remain missing, including 85 US citizens, per People. The couple says American and Australian families were among their group.