A Plano husband and wife are among more than 1,000 people missing after a catastrophic landslide near the China-Nepal border killed 400 people and devastated a community.

Deepak and Madhu Ahuja, longtime Plano neighbors and business owners who have been married for 34 years, were in the area for a religious journey to Mount Kailash. Their family is now desperately trying to find them while holding out hope that they survived.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported the disaster happened after a glacial collapse, when ice broke off and fell down the mountain, triggering a landslide that sent mud, water and rock rushing down the mountainside.

Sushil Ahuja believes his older brother, Deepak, and sister-in-law, Madhu, were inside a building when a massive wall of floodwater hit. Surveillance video from the Tibet side of the China-Nepal border captured the destruction.

“My first reaction was, ‘that cannot be true,'” said Ahuja. “That did not look real to us.”

The couple had long wanted to make the religious journey to Mount Kailash and finally went to celebrate Deepak’s 60th birthday, according to his brother. They were headed back after a two-week trek when the disaster struck.

“Just extremely religious, extremely spiritual,” Ahuja said. “They went there for a good cause, right? This cannot happen to them.”

Ahuja said the company the couple was traveling with has remained in contact with the family as efforts continue to locate them.

“We’ve been rattling all the cages, as we can, exploring all avenues. There are those involved diplomatic channels, those involved helplines or reaching out to the US embassy in Beijing and Nepal and leveraging contacts,” said Ahuja.

Rescue teams are trying to reach victims as the scale of the disaster continues to unfold.

NBC News reported more than 500 foreigners from 32 countries remain missing, including 65 Americans.

For the Ahujas’ family and friends in North Texas, the wait continues as they cling to hope that Deepak and Madhu will be found.

“They were all there for a religious trip, sothat’s what gives me hope,” said Ahuja.

This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC DFW. AI tools helped convert the story into a digital article, and an NBC DFW journalist edited it again before publication.