'It’s a dream for them to come to Canada': Efforts underway to send bodies of international students home to Nepal

They came to Canada to pursue their dreams. Now their families have been left in agony.

Efforts are underway to send the bodies of two international students killed in a crash north of London, Ont. back home to their families in Nepal.

“Families are very devastated, because you know Nepal, it’s a dream for them to come to Canada as students,” explained Madhab Dulal, the president of the Non-Resident Napali Association of Canada. “And you know they have a plan. You know anyone who comes here they have plan to get good education.”

The association has now raised more than $50,000 through a virtual crowd funding campaign to send the bodies of Sushil Bhattarai and Pasang Sherpa home to their families in Nepal.

Dulal said they’ve been in touch with both the Napali embassy in Canada and the victims’ families to make the arrangements.

“We are waiting for death certificates from Service Ontario. And once we receive that, we connect with the embassy to get a ‘no objection’ letter. And we send the bodies to Nepal immediately, once we have all the documents collected,” explained Dulal.

Madhab Dulal, the president of the Non-Resident Napali Association Canada, speaks to CTV News in a virtual interview on Feb. 22, 2024. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)

On the morning of Feb. 13, a three-vehicle crash on Highbury Avenue, south of Ilderton Road, sent ten people to hospital — all international students from Nepal.

Two people died, a male and female both in their 20s. The association said one attended Conestoga College, the other Fanshawe College.

“We are working with social workers and the lawyers to see if we can get any financial support from the family from auto insurance, and we’d like to request the college as well. You know, whatever support we get that is not for family, that is just to help [send the bodies] to Nepal,” said Dulal.

Neither Fanshawe nor Conestoga has made a public statement about the deaths of their students at this time.

In the meantime, a 26 year old, also an international student from Nepal, is facing criminal charges in the crash.