The number of Australians still unaccounted for in Nepal has climbed to 39 after a devastating wall of water, described as a “tsunami from the sky”, swept through villages in the wake of a catastrophic landslide.
The disaster struck on Wednesday morning local time, when floodwaters unleashed by an ice avalanche ripped through a well-known Himalayan area near the Nepal-Tibet border, leaving hundreds feared missing.
Nepal’s Prime Minister’s office has confirmed at least 389 deaths, with officials warning the toll is likely to increase as search and rescue operations push on.
More than 1300 people remain missing, among them more than 667 foreign nationals from 33 countries.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Friday that the number of Australians yet to be located had risen overnight from 35 to 39.
She warned there was an “unfortunate possibility” the figure could grow further, given the remoteness of the affected region and the difficulty of confirming people’s whereabouts.
“Obviously, it’s a very difficult situation. It’s a remote location,” Wong told ABC Radio National.
“So we are urgently working to identify how many Australians are in, have been, in the region, and to confirm the welfare of any Australians who are not accounted for.”
More than 667 foreigners, including 39 Aussies remain missing after the flood in Nepal
Men in hi-vis jackets and hard hats fled in terror as they watched the mass of water rush through a valley
A family friend shared an urgent plea to find the Iyer family (above), from Sydney, following devastating floods in Nepal
Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials have been deployed to the region to assist recovery and identification efforts.
‘The extraordinary scale of this disaster and the remoteness of the affected region mean immense challenges lie ahead for the response and recovery,’ Wong said.
Community vigils were held in Sydney and Melbourne on Thursday night.
The Iver family from Sydney’s north-west were the first missing Australians to be to be identified on Thursday.
Sridharan Iyer, Roopa Sridhar, Rudhra Sreedharan Iyer and Rishabh Sridharan Iyer were last known to be in Kathmandu.
It’s understood the family were part of a Himalayan Glacier Trekking tour.
Fellow Sydneysiders Chandrasekaran and Shylaja Muralitharan, along with their young sons Ashwin and Aarush were on the same tour.
Sagar Pandey, the founder of Himalayan Glacier Trekking, said he lost contact with the group of 47, including 15 Australians, following the disaster in the Rasuwa area.
Also missing are NSW couple Venkatraman Balakrishnan, 52, and his wife Chitra Venkatraman, 46, along with Kanagamah Sundrasan, a mother-of-two and business owner in Queensland.
Many of the missing Australians, and other tourists in the region, had travelled to the area for a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet.
Couple Shylaja Muralitharan (left) and Chandrasekaran Muralitharan (right) from northwest Sydney are missing in Nepal’s floods
Chandrasekaran and Shylaja Muralitharan are unaccounted for alongside their two young sons, Ashwin and Aarush (above)
Chitra Venkatraman (above) was on the Himalayan Glacier Trekking tour
Venkatraman Balakrishnan (above) went missing in Nepal’s floods on Wednesday
The mountain is a sacred place in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Bon. Summer, from June to August, is the most popular time of year for the trek.
Most of the missing Australians were part of two tours in the area, the Himalayan Glacier Trekking group and a second organised by Kailash Journeys.
Another 11 Australians were travelling with the Isha Foundation, a spiritual non-profit, when the disaster struck.
Smartraveller has updated its travel advice, urging Australians to exercise a high degree of caution because of major flash flooding and a mudslide.
Australians in need of urgent help should contact DFAT’s 24-hour consular emergency centre.
