Friends pray for missing Australian hiker after Nepal floods
Developing story first seen 3 hours ago
New details have emerged alongside the previous update: family and friends of Michael Keats, another Australian hiker still missing in Nepal, gathered on a beach on the New South Coast on Sunday to pray for his safe return, with dozens tearfully embracing as they awaited news. Meanwhile, further details emerged of Cara Severino's rescue, the only missing Australian located so far after the deadly flash flood struck the Langtang region on Wednesday, offering a rare moment of relief amid a disaster that has killed hundreds and left dozens of Australians unaccounted for.
Severino, 26, from Wollongong, made contact with Australian authorities on Friday and was collected by an embassy team from a national park on Sunday, having spent days travelling by tractor with a group of fellow hikers she credited with saving her. She thanked her Nepalese and international companions by name and expressed sympathy for local families who lost loved ones and entire villages, including one hiker she passed who had lost his whole family. Nepal Police confirmed 768 deaths as of 7pm Sunday (AEST), with almost 3,000 people still missing, including at least 42 Australians. Severino's parents, Debbie and Frank, called her rescue a "miracle" and thanked Australian consular teams, while awaiting her return home.
- Michael Keats' family prayed on a beach for his safe return.
- Rescued Aussie Cara Severino detailed her tractor escape and rescue.
- Nepal floods: 768 confirmed dead, almost 3,000 missing, 42 Australians unaccounted for.
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Michael Keats and Cara Severino are among the Australians caught up in the aftermath of a flash flood that struck the Langtang region of Nepal, a popular trekking area, on Wednesday. The floods have killed hundreds of people and left thousands more unaccounted for, with dozens of Australians among those still missing. Keats remains missing, while Severino was found safe after several days, making her the only missing Australian located so far.
Severino, 26, is from Wollongong, on the New South Wales coast, which is also where friends and family of Keats gathered to show support for him and his loved ones. She had been travelling with a group of fellow hikers who helped her reach safety before Australian embassy staff collected her from a national park. Her case has drawn attention as a rare positive outcome in a disaster that has caused widespread loss of life among both local Nepalese communities and foreign visitors.
The scale of the disaster means many families, including those connected to the dozens of missing Australians, are still waiting for news of loved ones. Nepal's Langtang region is a well-known destination for trekkers, which explains why a number of Australians were in the area when the floods hit.
Full account
Families and friends of hikers unaccounted for since catastrophic flooding tore through the Nepal-Tibet border region last week have been left in an agonising wait for news, even as one Australian trekker was confirmed safe over the weekend. The disaster, triggered when a large mass of ice sheared away from a glacier and crashed into the Lhende Khola river, sent walls of rock, ice and debris surging through mountain valleys on Wednesday morning local time, devastating villages and trekking routes popular with foreign visitors.
Among those caught up in the chaos was 26-year-old Cara Severino, from Wollongong in New South Wales, who had been walking near Langtang when the flood struck. She survived by joining a small band of fellow travellers who fled together aboard a tractor into a nearby national park, later crediting several of that group by name for helping her reach safety. After managing to reach Australian officials by phone on Friday, she was collected from the park at the weekend and driven to Kathmandu in a four-wheel-drive, where she was photographed alongside embassy staff. Her parents described the moment they heard her voice again as an overwhelming relief, and thanked consular teams for locating and caring for her. Not every family has had the same outcome: on the NSW South Coast, relatives and friends of Mollymook man Michael Keats, who remains unaccounted for, gathered on a beach at the weekend to hold vigil and pray for his safe return.
The scale of the disaster remains difficult to pin down precisely, with tolls still being revised as search teams work through affected areas. Nepalese police put the confirmed death toll at 768 by Sunday evening, while other reporting over the same period cited a lower figure of just over 600 fatalities, illustrating how quickly and unevenly the numbers have been moving. Authorities have said close to 3,000 people remain missing across the region, among them at least 42 Australians, while several thousand others have already been pulled to safety. Search and rescue efforts were forced to pause on Saturday amid heavy rain and thick fog, and officials are also keeping a close watch on two lakes that formed upstream after the flood, one of which has reportedly begun to overflow, raising fears of further flooding downstream.
The disaster has also left foreign families outside Australia searching for answers, including that of American traveller Jitendra Patel, who was believed to be journeying towards Mount Kailash on a spiritual pilgrimage when the flood hit, having apparently crossed from Nepal into the Tibet Autonomous Region shortly beforehand. His son, Sunny, said the family recognised the location from viral footage of the flooding and has since been in contact with US diplomatic posts in Kathmandu and Beijing as well as the State Department, but described the near-total absence of information from the Chinese side of the border as the most frustrating part of the search. The contrast between the Patel family's difficulties and the swift, well-resourced Australian consular response that reached Ms Severino underscores how access to information and support has varied sharply depending on where, and on which side of the border, people went missing.
Where outlets differ
Death toll figures diverge: Nepal Police cited 768 confirmed deaths as of Sunday evening in one report, while another source reported just over 600 killed around the same period, showing how fluid and inconsistent the casualty count has been.
The two reports focus on different nationalities and emphasise different angles: the Australian-focused coverage centres on a successful consular rescue (Cara Severino) and a community prayer vigil for Michael Keats, stressing gratitude toward government support, while the US-focused coverage centres on an American family's frustration at the lack of information from Chinese authorities regarding a relative believed to have crossed into Tibet.
One report emphasises the human cause and mechanics of the disaster (glacial ice collapse into the Lhende Khola river) and broader rescue/missing statistics, while the other is more focused on individual personal testimony and emotional reactions from families.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Miracle survivor of Nepal flood disaster speaks out – as friends and family of missing Aussie hiker gather on beach to pray he is found alive”.