Nepal flood disaster leaves 39 Australians missing, 389 dead
Developed over time first seen 2 months ago
At least 39 Australians are now reported missing after a landslide-triggered flash flood devastated villages in Nepal’s Himalayan border region with Tibet. Nepal’s Prime Minister’s office says at least 389 people have died, while the scale and remoteness of the disaster are complicating rescue, recovery and identification efforts.
More than 1,300 people, including over 667 foreign nationals from 33 countries, remain missing. Most of the missing Australians were travelling on Mount Kailash pilgrimage tours: 15 with Himalayan Glacier Trekking, six with Kailash Journeys and 11 with the Isha Foundation; Australia has deployed consular officials and updated travel advice.
- Thirty-nine Australians are missing after devastating Nepal floods.
- The confirmed death toll has reached 389.
- More than 1,300 people remain missing overall.
Full account
Nepalese authorities have reported a major flood disaster in the Himalayan border region near Tibet, after an ice and rock avalanche and associated flooding struck on Wednesday local time. The latest figures cited in one report put the confirmed death toll at 389, while more than 1,300 people were said to be missing, including hundreds of foreign visitors. Rescue operations have been complicated by the remoteness and difficult terrain of the affected area.
Australia’s foreign minister, Penny Wong, said 39 Australians were unaccounted for, an increase from an earlier figure of 35. Australian officials have been sent to assist efforts to establish the whereabouts of travellers and support recovery work. Reports said at least 15 of those missing had been travelling with a Himalayan tour operator, while other Australians were believed to have been undertaking pilgrimages to Mount Kailash.
Medical staff in the region described treating people with injuries caused by debris and the force of the floodwater, as well as mud inhalation. A doctor at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital said some survivors had mud in their airways and on their faces, and warned that the number reaching treatment centres might understate the scale of the emergency because many people had been swept away or could not reach help.
Families in Australia and the United States have appealed for information about relatives who had been travelling in the area. Among those named in Australian coverage were a New South Wales couple, Venkatraman Balakrishnan and Chitra Venkatraman, and Queensland resident Kanagamah Sundrasan. Separate US reporting focused on a Texas couple, Deepak and Madhu Ahuja, who disappeared after completing a Mount Kailash pilgrimage.
Where outlets differ
The reports reflect different points in a fast-moving emergency: source 1 cites 389 deaths and more than 1,300 missing people, source 2 cites 332 deaths and 910 missing, while source 3 cites at least 472 deaths and more than 1,500 missing across Nepal and Tibet.
Source 1 concentrates on the Australian government response, hospital accounts and the total of 39 Australians unaccounted for. Source 2 provides more biographical detail about named Australian travellers and cites an earlier total of at least 34 Australians missing. Source 3 centres on the experience of one missing American couple and their family.
The descriptions of the trigger vary: source 1 refers to floodwaters caused by an ice avalanche, source 2 describes a glacier collapse, ice-rock avalanche and landslide, and source 3 principally describes catastrophic flooding in the border region.
More coverage
- Daily Mail — Three more Australians missing in catastrophic Nepal flash floods are identified amid the massive unfolding humanitarian response
- Daily Mail — Daughters of missing American couple desperately wait for answers after monster Nepal flash flood killed hundreds and search for survivors continues
- Daily Mail — Smiles before the disaster: Millionaire family from Surrey including a former Mrs India UK pose with Nepal tour group before flash flood hit… as hunt for 33 missing British tourists continues
- Daily Mail — Nepal's flood could just be the beginning: Maps reveal the glaciers around the world at risk of a similar disaster – with 15 million people in the danger zone
Read the full article at the source →
Originally published by Daily Mail as “Nepal landslide devastation deepens as 39 Australians are now reported missing and death toll climbs to 389”.