The family of Australian hiker Michael Keats, from Mollymook on the NSW South Coast, has confirmed he died in the catastrophic flooding that struck Nepal last week, making him the first Australian fatality to be confirmed in the disaster. The floods, triggered by a glacial collapse in the Himalayas, have devastated central Nepal, and Keats is believed to have been caught with a group of fellow Australians at a border checkpoint while returning from a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet. His death underscores the scale of the crisis facing the many Australians still unaccounted for in the region.

Nepalese authorities have now confirmed 919 deaths and 4,793 people missing across the Nepal-Tibet border, with at least 43 Australians still among the missing, most travelling with tour operators Himalayan Glacier Trekking and Kailash Journeys. Not included in that figure is 26-year-old Cara Severino, who was rescued on Sunday after escaping by tractor with local residents. Keats's partner, Emily Boyd, has raised more than $20,000 via GoFundMe to travel to India for a memorial ritual and to support her family, while the Royal Australian Air Force has deployed a C-17A Globemaster III with humanitarian aid and personnel to assist the rescue effort.