Maldivian family missing contact after Nuwara Eliya trip

Relatives of a Maldivian family who travelled to Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka, have said that the family is still unaccounted, with no contact having been made since Sri Lanka was affected by Cyclone Ditwah. 

The missing family includes a couple and two children, aged one and seven. 

Relatives said that the family has not been heard from since last Wednesday. They have now reported this to the Maldives embassy in Sri Lanka. Relatives said that although the embassy has said that the family is safe, they are yet to hear from them. 

The missing man's sister Fazna Abdul Majeed told Mihaaru News that the family had travelled to Sri Lanka on November 8. 

The man's wife is a Sri Lankan, Fazna said, adding that the family had gone to visit maternal relatives living in Ragala, Nuwara Eliya. They are expected to return to Maldives on December 2. 

"Last Wednesday, they set off to return from Nuwara Eliya to Colombo. The road was blocked halfway through, and Sri Lankan Police asked them to turn around. We haven't heard from them since then. The embassy is telling us that a friend of my brother has told them they have gone back home [mother's family home in Nuwara Eliya]," Fazna said. 

"But we still haven't heard from my brother. We have tried to call all of his friends living there, and even his wife's family. There is no news."

Fazna said that the Maldives embassy had told her that calls on mobile phones were not going through due to power disruptions caused by the storm. 

"But even they aren't sure of this. They're just estimating based on the time it took and saying my brother and them have likely reached home."

An official of the Maldives Embassy in Sri Lanka said that they received information from a person in the area that the family is in Nuwara Eliya. 

Sri Lanka has declared a State of Emergency since Saturday with the death toll from the landslides and floods caused by Cyclone Ditwah now having reached 159.