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Four Australians found safe in Nepal, but 38 others remain missing
🇦🇺 Australia /Disasters & Emergencies

Four Australians found safe in Nepal, but 38 others remain missing

From ABC Australia · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Four more Australians have been confirmed safe after floods devastated parts of Nepal and Tibet, bringing the number located safely since Tuesday to five.
  • Nepal and China have reported a combined 1,066 deaths and 4,462 missing people, while at least 11,814 people have been rescued.
  • Rescuers are searching damaged border crossings, tunnels and hydropower sites, as families seek faster action and identification of recovered bodies.

Four more Australians have been confirmed safe after the floods that devastated parts of Nepal and Tibet, but 38 others remain unaccounted for. Five Australian citizens have been located safely since Tuesday morning, including people found in Nepal, China and outside the disaster zone.

Some of those confirmed safe on Wednesday had not contacted their families or next of kin since the flooding. Their welfare could not initially be confirmed, adding to the uncertainty for relatives still waiting for news.

We need specialised missing person search teams and then forensic and DNA support, and proper identification of anyone who has been recovered.

— Anamika ShresthaShe called for more specialised assistance to locate missing people and identify recovered bodies, including her father.

Nepal said it had recovered 1,050 bodies by Tuesday, while 3,916 people remained missing. Chinese state media reported 16 deaths and 546 missing people, bringing the combined reported toll to 1,066 dead and 4,462 missing. At least 11,814 people have been rescued.

If we don't get the body … it's going to be really difficult for us thinking that maybe his soul is still not resting in peace.

— Anamika ShresthaShe described her family's distress as it waits for news of her missing father.

Rescuers are concentrating on hydropower projects where hundreds of workers are believed to be trapped. Nepalese army teams have searched debris-filled tunnels, while search dogs have been used at the completely destroyed Gyirong Port border crossing. Chinese state media said the road there had reopened and additional personnel had joined the search.

For families, the wait has become increasingly painful. Victorian resident Anamika Shrestha said her 65-year-old father, engineer Ganesh Mani Shrestha, was working at a construction site at the Rasuwagadhi Integrated Customs Checkpoint on the Nepal-Tibet border. She said it took rescue teams about six days to reach the area and called for specialised missing-person teams, forensic support and DNA-based identification. Her brother in Nepal has submitted DNA samples, but she said the process could take months. Authorities have begun burying hundreds of unidentified bodies after collecting DNA samples, while mortuaries in Nepal are overflowing. At least 17 bodies have also been recovered from rivers downstream in India.

At this stage we don't need any sympathy or reassurance, we just need timely action.

— Anamika ShresthaShe urged authorities to act quickly in the search and identification effort.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Australia in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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