The family of missing Perth man Luke Costanzo remain hopeful he is alive, one week after devastating floods struck the Nepal-Tibet border region, as the Australian government revised down the number of unaccounted-for citizens to 38 following confirmation that five more people are safe. The disaster, triggered by an ice avalanche in the Himalayas, has left more than 4,000 people unaccounted for across Nepal, with the death toll now exceeding 1,000, making it one of the region's worst recent tragedies.

Costanzo, 30, was on a pilgrimage trek to Mount Kailash with the Isha Foundation when contact was lost at the Gyirong border crossing. His family issued a statement asking for privacy and prayers, while urging donations to support rescue efforts. Other Australians, including Sydney father-of-two Sriram Parameswaran, have travelled to Nepal to search for missing loved ones, among them his wife Shruti Chandrasekaran, one of 34 Australians missing from a Himalayan glacier trekking group. Sydney woman Cara Severino, 26, was among the first Australians confirmed safe after surviving by fleeing Langtang National Park on a tractor with fellow hikers.