First Aussie family missing in Nepal is identified after deadly wall of water triggered by ice avalanche obliterated towns – with hundreds of people still unaccounted for
Developed over time first seen 3 hours ago
A Sydney family of four has been identified among at least six Australian families caught up in catastrophic flooding near the Nepal–Tibet border. The disaster has left at least 34 Australians missing, prompting urgent efforts by Australian officials, local authorities and tour operators to establish their welfare.
The Iyer family were reportedly travelling on a spiritual pilgrimage to Mount Kailash with a group of 47 people, including 15 Australians, when contact was lost in the Rasuwa area. The flash flood, reportedly triggered by an ice avalanche, killed at least 160 people and left nearly 1,500 unaccounted for; more than 5,000 rescue personnel saved over 120 people, including 20 foreigners.
- Sydney’s Iyer family is among Australians missing after Nepal–Tibet flooding.
- At least 34 Australians are unaccounted for.
- The disaster has killed at least 160 people.
Full account
Australian authorities and relatives were seeking information about dozens of citizens missing after a catastrophic flood near the Nepal–Tibet border. The first family publicly identified was the Iyer family from western Sydney: Sridharan Iyer, Roopa Sridhar, Rudhra Sreedharan Iyer and Rishabh Sridharan Iyer. A friend said they had last been known to be in Kathmandu before communication was lost.
The family is believed to have been travelling on a Mount Kailash pilgrimage organised through Himalayan Glacier Trekking. The company’s founder, Sagar Pandey, said contact had been lost with a group of 47 travellers, including 15 Australians. Those on the tour reportedly included two New South Wales families of four and boys aged 11 and 14. Relatives described an anxious lack of reliable information about where the missing travellers might be.
The disaster struck on Wednesday local time after a major ice and rock avalanche, described in reports as involving a glacier collapse, sent floodwaters through the Himalayan region around Rasuwa and Langtang National Park. The force of the water reportedly destroyed settlements and transport links. Nepalese security forces, supported by Chinese rescue teams, were continuing searches; reports said hundreds of people had been rescued, including foreign nationals.
Other Australians later named among the missing were New South Wales couple Venkatraman Balakrishnan, 52, and Chitra Venkatraman, 46, and Queensland mother-of-two Kanagamah Sundrasan. Their relatives said they had last heard from them before the flooding or while they were close to the Tibetan border. Australia’s Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, said the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was working urgently to establish the welfare and whereabouts of Australians in the area.
Where outlets differ
The reports give different casualty snapshots: Source 1 cites at least 160 confirmed deaths and nearly 1,500 people missing, whereas Source 2 reports 332 deaths and 910 missing, including 517 foreigners. These appear to reflect updates issued at different times.
Source 1 centres on the Iyer family, the trekking organiser’s bleak aerial assessment and the western Sydney community’s concern. Source 2 focuses on the subsequent identification of the Balakrishnan couple and Kanagamah Sundrasan, as well as relatives’ accounts.
The triggering event is framed slightly differently: Source 1 calls it an ice avalanche, while Source 2 describes a glacier collapse and ice-rock avalanche, and says it was initially thought to be a magnitude-4.4 earthquake.
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