Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Thursday that at least 34 Australian citizens who were travelling on religious pilgrimages and tours in Nepal have been reported missing following deadly flooding in the Himalayan region. She cautioned that information from the affected areas was "very limited."
Officials reported that more than 1,000 people are missing across Nepal and China's Tibet, including at least 600 foreigners, after a wall of mud and rock collapsed into a Himalayan river and unleashed catastrophic floods through towns and valleys.
Wong said at least 34 Australians were among the hundreds missing. "We understand these Australians are part of separate pilgrimage and tour groups," she told a news conference on Thursday. "At this stage, access and information are very limited given the scale of disaster ... we are urgently seeking to confirm the welfare and whereabouts of Australians."
Himalayan Glacier, a tourism agency operating in the region, confirmed that 15 of the missing Australians were participants in a religious tour to Mount Kailash organized by the company. The agency said the same tour group included travellers from India, the U.S., Canada and Singapore.
Chief Executive Sagar Pandey described the group as a pilgrimage party that had planned to enter China Tibet and visit Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar, which he called "one of the holiest landmarks on earth." He said all 15 of those missing from his tour were Indian-Australians, and that the youngest member of that cohort was an 11-year-old boy.
Pandey said he had flown over the flood zone by helicopter and expressed a grim assessment of the scene, saying he believed there was only a "1% chance" of survival. He added: "There are no human-made things, no human settlement left. Everything is just flat ... I believe that everybody is gone."
Summary of reported facts:
- At least 34 Australian citizens are reported missing in Nepal following floods.
- Authorities say more than 1,000 people are missing across Nepal and China's Tibet, including at least 600 foreigners.
- A tourism operator confirmed 15 missing Australians were on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash; those 15 were Indian-Australians and included an 11-year-old boy.
The situation remains fluid as officials and families seek confirmation of the status of those unaccounted for and as rescue efforts confront limited access to severely damaged areas.