I'm alive: Nepal earthquake survivors connect with loved ones
(CNN)Thousands remain missing in Nepal after adevastating earthquake struck the region on Saturday. A majority of them are Nepalese, Indian and Chinese residents, but a handful are adventurers, trekkers and vacationers who have not been heard from since the catastrophe.
Technology has played a huge role in helping families share their worries, ask for help and search for their missing loved ones.
Several organizations, such as Google and the Red Cross, have published features about the missing on their websites. And on CNN iReport, dozens of people have filed reports pleading for information that might help them locate their missing friends and relatives.
The death toll in Nepal is rising; it has now surpassed more than 5,000. Though the news is mostly heartbreaking and worrisome, there have been stories of survival, of families reconnecting with loved ones days after the disaster.
The walk of survival
After hearing about devastation in Nepal, Ahmed Shadmann of Bangladesh reached out to his nation's embassy in Nepal, made calls to old college contacts in South Asia and posted pleas on social media to help find his younger sister Raisaa Tashnova.
Tashnova, 25, was with a group of friends at The Last Resort, a spa-like resort near the border with China. When the earthquake struck, she was getting ready for a group excursion, a canyon swing.
Raisaa Tashnova and her friends left the confines of their resort after they realized help wasn't coming.
She could see the ground splitting apart beneath her feet. What scared her most was seeing large boulders crashing down from the mountains above.
She prayed she wouldn't be crushed.
She ran from the toppling boulders and shielded herself. When the tremors subsided, Tashnova and her friends huddled together and camped on higher ground overnight, expecting to be rescued.
When three days passed and no one came to their aid, the group decided to take their chances and leave the confines of the resort.
The walk toward Kathmandu was treacherous. The roads near the resort were mostly blocked or in bad shape because of a landslide.
But the worst part was the smell of rotting flesh, which permeated the air as she passed countless villages flattened by the quake.
"It was a walk of survival," she said. "My brain refused to feel anything apart from putting one leg before the other until the mountains were left behind."
Tashnova hiked six hours through mountainous terrain toward Nepal's capital. After navigating down tricky mountain slopes, she and her friends came across a village and hitched a ride on a local bus.
She was able to connect with her family, nearly four days after the quake, from the airport in Kathmandu while waiting for the next flight to Bangladesh. She was exhausted. She hadn't showered or slept since before the quake.
When Shadmann got the call from his sister, he said it felt fantastic.
"What was surprising is that her voice sounded very strong. It didn't seem like she had gone through a terrible episode in her life," he said.