(L-R) Sunita, Shubham and Kirna and Dhiren Vira, a family from Dadar, had gone on a road trip to Leh Ladakh on June 29. HT PHOTO

Mumbai: On Tuesday, film actors Kartik Aaryan and Kiara Advani quote-tweeted a message on Twitter about a Mumbai family which had gone missing in the flash floods in North India. One of the family’s frantic relatives, who knew the Bollywood celebrities, had requested them to amplify a message put out by a cousin on all social media platforms, and Aaryan and Advani had immediately obliged.

Within a few hours, there was a response from a local, saying the family was safe and sheltering at a military camp at Sissu near Manali. “We got a call from someone called Siddharth, who said he had spoken to the local police after reading the tweet,” said Dipin Shah, a relative of the family. “He confirmed that the family was indeed at the military camp.”

Dhiren, Sunita, Shubham and Kirna Vira, a family from Dadar, had gone on a road trip to Leh Ladakh on June 29 and were to return on Monday morning. “They made a call to us on Saturday to inform us that they were stuck four kilometres before the Atal Tunnel en route to Manali because of a landslide,” said Dipin, Shubham’s cousin. “On Sunday, they video-called to tell us they were safe and had spent the night inside the car. We advised them to keep the car unlocked and to not turn on the heater. But after that call, we were unable to get in touch with them.”

Worried, Dipin and his cousins created a message and shared it on various social media platforms on Tuesday. The message went viral on Facebook, various WhatsApp groups, Instagram and Twitter. On Twitter, after the tweet was quote-tweeted by Bollywood celebrities Kartik Aaryan and Kiara Advani, news came in that the family was safe.

“Despite all our efforts, we have still not been able to establish direct contact with them,” said Dipin. “But we at least know that they are not missing. Kiara and Kartik were kind and quick enough to help us amplify the message. It is because of their tweets that a load was taken off our shoulders.”

Another family from Kandivali is also desperately trying to reach its relatives, Vatsal and Priyal Shah, who had gone on a trip to Spiti Valley and were to return on Sunday. The family said they were stuck in Manali but were safe. “They are in Manali,” said Parag Shah, uncle of Vatsal and Priyal. “On Monday morning, they called and said they were safe but shifting to a different hotel. However, since that call, there has been no contact. We are worried because it’s been more than 36 hours. We are trying the hotel numbers and other possible local contacts as well.”

In the past two days, an interaction between a western disturbance and the monsoon trough led to extremely heavy rainfall over Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Haryana, causing landslides, flooding and widespread damage. The unusual interaction of a western disturbance with the monsoon trough can be devastating, as witnessed during the 2013 Uttarakhand floods.