Five Australians make contact, 38 unaccounted for as Nepal flood rescue operation continues

Four Australians feared missing in the devastating floods on the Nepal-Tibet border have been accounted for overnight, bringing the total number of contacted citizens to five since Tuesday morning.

Search and rescue operations are continuing in the region, with 38 Australians still unaccounted for, and the total death toll from the disaster surpassing 1000.

Of the five citizens confirmed safe, one was in Nepal, one in Tibet, and three were outside the disaster zone. They join 26-year-old Cara Severino, who was identified by consular officials on Saturday after contacting her parents on Friday.

Communication with those in the disaster zone remains incredibly difficult, Minister for Multicultural Affairs Anne Aly said on Wednesday, as she confirmed that the five Australians contacted since Tuesday morning had previously been unable to communicate with their families.

“There are real logistic issues, including communications to find out where people are,” Aly told the ABC.

“But for those families that are still waiting, those 38 individuals that are unaccounted for, we understand that it’s a really concerning time, and we’ll continue to do whatever we can to try and locate those people.”

Among those desperately waiting for news is Sydney woman Vaishani Kowshikan, whose sister, Shylaja Muralitharan, is missing along with Shylaja’s husband and sons, Ashwin, 14, and Aarush, 11.

The missing family were checked into the now-destroyed Kailash Hotel, but Kowshikan believes they may well have been elsewhere when the flood struck.

“Their last phone call was around 6.47am in the morning on the 26th of August – she told our family that they were just going to go have breakfast,” Kowshikan said.

The floodwaters hit the village of Timure and Hotel Kailash about 8.47am, and this missing two hours is key to knowing the family’s location.

“Knowing my family, I don’t think they would have just sat and waited at the hotel. They might have gone out to explore. There was a bazaar, there’s a hydroplant, there are tracks and trails,” she said.

“They had been training for five or six months every weekend, doing different treks. They were very much prepared and probably quite fit as well. So we believe that they have gone out exploring.

“We want search and rescue efforts to continue along any possible routes that they may have travelled. I think there’s still opportunity and there’s still time for them to be found and rescued.”

Kowshikan said she was calling an Australian government hotline daily for any news and constantly scrolling the news, looking for information about the search.

“We’re not giving up hope,” she said. “To not have them, the possibility of that is just unfathomable to us. We can’t imagine that future. We desperately want to bring them back.

“My nephews, Ashwin and Aarush, there are no words to describe how much our family is missing them. My love for those boys has no boundaries. They still have so much to live for, so much to look forward to.

“I really plead with the Australian government to use any diplomatic channels to support any expertise and capability and support the search effort. We understand how strong the response has been, but we need additional effort.”

One Australian teacher, Michael Keats, was declared dead by his grieving family on Monday, though Foreign Minister Penny Wong was unable to confirm his death on Tuesday. Wong said she was “realistic” about the difficulty of identifying victims in the aftermath of the disaster.

Glenn Grimmond, relieving principal of Moruya High School in the NSW South Coast where Keats worked, sent a letter to parents on Tuesday informing them of the death and offering the school’s support.

“Michael was a valued member of our school community, and his loss will be deeply felt by our students, staff and families,” Grimmond wrote.

By Tuesday evening, the death toll in Nepal had reached 1050, with about 4000 people still missing, including nearly 600 foreigners from 39 countries. Chinese authorities on Sunday said that 16 people had died and 546 were missing in Tibet’s Gyirong County. Rescuers are struggling to reach some of the worst-hit areas.

The incident was triggered after a glacial collapse unleashed floods and debris across the border region last Wednesday, with rescue teams struggling to reach isolated communities.

At least 11,993 people have been rescued so far in Nepal, with emergency crews relying on helicopters and other aircraft to reach communities cut off after floods and landslides destroyed roads and bridges.

With Bloomberg

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