34 Australians Missing After Deadly Nepal Floods

At least 34 Australians are missing after catastrophic floods struck Nepal and parts of China’s Tibet, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Thursday, as rescue teams struggle to assess the full scale of the Himalayan disaster.

More than 1,000 people, including at least 600 foreign nationals, have been reported missing across Nepal and Tibet after a massive wall of mud and rock crashed into a Himalayan river. The collapse triggered powerful flooding that swept through towns and valleys, destroying settlements and disrupting access to affected areas.

Wong confirmed that the missing Australians had been travelling in several pilgrimage and tour groups. She said Australian authorities were urgently working to determine their whereabouts and welfare, although communication and access remained severely restricted because of the devastation.

“At this stage, access and information are very limited given the scale of disaster,” Wong told reporters, adding that officials were seeking further information about the missing citizens.

Tour operator Himalayan Glacier confirmed that 15 of the missing Australians were participating in a religious pilgrimage to Mount Kailash. The wider tour included travellers from India, the United States, Canada and Singapore.

Himalayan Glacier Chief Executive Sagar Pandey said the group had planned to travel into Tibet to visit Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar, both considered sacred pilgrimage destinations. The 15 missing travellers were Indian-Australians, including an 11-year-old boy.

Pandey said he surveyed the Nepal flood zone by helicopter and described widespread destruction across the affected area. He estimated that the chances of finding survivors were extremely low.

According to Pandey, settlements and other human-made structures appeared to have been completely swept away, leaving the devastated landscape largely flattened.

Authorities continue to search for hundreds of missing residents and foreign tourists as the Nepal and Tibet floods emerge as one of the region’s most severe recent natural disasters. The difficult terrain, damaged infrastructure and limited communications are complicating efforts to confirm casualties and locate survivors.