As it happened: Flash flood on Nepal-Tibet border kills more than 160; At least 35 Australians missing

This is where we will wrap up our live coverage of the Nepal disaster for now.

Dozens of Australian families continue to wait for updates on their loved ones, while on the ground rescue crews are still searching for survivors more than 24 hours after the ice avalanche and flooding.

You can find our latest coverage here.

Red Cross officials are holding out hope that some tourists in Nepal may have survived by climbing mountains out of the path of the deadly wave.

But they warn the death toll is likely to grow significantly as their teams reach more areas devastated by the disaster.

“Like many disasters, the information that we have right now is very, very sketchy,” the Red Cross’ David Fisher told A Current Affair host Ally Langdon.

“We are operating on an assumption that at least 10,000 families have been directly impacted and that number very may well rise.”

Fisher said many bodies that had been found were located in the southern part of the country and probably “swept from very far away”.

“The number that have not been retrieved is probably still substantial,” he said.

Information on how to donate the Red Cross can be found here.

Authorities have provided an update, saying at least 273 people have died and more than 1300 remain missing.

According to Nepal’s Tourism Board, 517 of the missing people were foreigners and 178 of them were from India.

Two young brothers missing in Nepal were members of the West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook Cricket Club.

“Rishab and Rudhra Iyer are talented cricketers and long term valued members of our club,” operations director Ross Anderson told nine.com.au.

Anderson said they are holding out hope the brothers and their parents will be found safe.

Rishab, 23, and Rudhra, 20, were on a tour with mum Lakshmi, 50, and dad Sreedharan, 52, and other Australians when the disaster struck.

While dozens of families await updates, others are reflecting on narrow escapes.

Melbourne father Gopi Rajaratnam cleared the border crossing just two days before the disaster.

“You can see the wall of water coming over the immigration building - and that’s where we were,” Rajaratnam told 9News.

“It was so close. It could have happened at any time... we just thank God. But I miss my wife and four daughters - they are worried, as you can imagine.”

While Rajaratnam’s group is safe, they remain stranded in the remote terrain, waiting for helicopter evacuation back to Kathmandu.

For Sydney couple Umesh and Krishna Sharma, embarking on a sacred Hindu pilgrimage to Nepal and Tibet was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime.

But tonight, their loved ones back home are living a nightmare.

“They were very excited that they got the opportunity,” their son Chitrak Sharma told 9News.

The Sharmas are among a group of 15 Australians travelling with the Himalayan Glacier Adventure tour who remain unaccounted for following catastrophic flooding.

Chitrak, who dropped his parents at the airport just last week, says his last conversation with his mother was two days ago.

“I’ve just been trying to get in contact with them... calling hospitals. I just want to find my parents. They’re all I have, really,” Chitrak said.

“I said bye to them, and I didn’t think it was the last time I was ever going to see them. I would do anything just to bring them home.”

The missing tour group also includes Brisbane father of two Narayan Panthi.

His family remains in a state of shock, unable to reach him as communication lines across the affected valleys remain down.

“We tried to contact him and his family and friends over in Nepal - we haven’t got anything back,” family friend Amrit Bhusal said.

“His wife and kids are terrified, very worried, and not in a condition to talk with anyone at the moment.”

The latest figures from Nepal’s Tourism Board reveal 35 Australians are now missing - up from the previous figure of 34.

Indian nationals make up the largest group, with 178 missing, followed by 65 Americans, 53 Ukrainians and 51 Malaysians.

The number of Australians listed as missing has risen to 35, while 33 people from the United Kingdom and 25 Canadians are also unaccounted for.

Many had travelled to Nepal for trekking tours or religious pilgrimages through the country’s remote northern valleys.

Devastated Aussie families have spoken of their grief as they wait for news of their missing loved ones.

Sydney pair Umesh and Krishna Sharma were among 15 Australians travelling with Himalayan Glacier Adventure and Travel when disaster struck.

They were travelling with the Iyer family - Sreedharan, Lakshmi, Rishab and Rudhra Iyer.

A relative of the Sharmas broke down while speaking to 9News, saying he had been unable to sleep since learning they were missing.

Sydney couple Chitra and Balakrishnan Ventrakamen were also part of the tour group, along with Brisbane man Narayan Panthi.

Relatives are anxiously waiting for information as the search for those missing continues.

A list released by the Himalayan Glacier Adventure and Travel Kailash Group has identified 15 of the at least 34 Australians unaccounted for in Nepal.

So far, they are:

• Sreedharan Iyer Iyer (52)
• Lakshmi Sreedharan Iyer (50)
• Rishab Iyer Sreedharan Iyer (23)
• Rudhra Sreesharan Iyer (20)
• Balakrishnan Venkatraman (52)
• Chitra Venkatraman (46)
• Rajeswari Sharma (64)
• Sruthi Chandrasekaran (36)
• Chandrasekaran Muralitharan (47)
• Shylaja Muralitharan (42)
• Ashwin Muralitharan (14)
• Aarush Muralitharan (11)
• Krishna Sharma (50)
• Umesh Sharma (55)
• Kumar Ramaswamy Sampath (61)

Except for eastern Melbourne resident Kumar Sampath, all are from Sydney.

A 17-year-old living in Nepal said that he was shocked and “filled with despair” the moment he learnt people he knew lost relatives in the disaster.

Speaking to nine.com.au, the 17-year-old from Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley said that he found out about the disaster while scrolling Instagram.

“I was shocked and filled with despair when I heard the news,” the teenager told nine.com.au.

“I have seen multiple people post about their relatives who were working at hydropower projects and are missing.

“Mostly, those working at these hydropower projects, the local population, and tourists seem to be affected.”

He said that Nepal is one of the countries that shoulder the burden of the climate crisis, and the flash flood that has claimed the lives of more than 160 people amplifies that.

“When richer countries pollute the environment, raise global temperature, and contribute to climate change, it is poorer countries like us that have to bear the brunt of the weight.

“Our glaciers are melting, our rivers are swelling, entire villages have to be relocated for people’s safety, yet we are never in the news cycle unless a huge tragedy has taken place.

He added that people need to be wary of relief funds, as scams have begun running rampant online.

“Back when the earthquake of 2015 happened, a lot of the money was stolen and rerouted by corrupt NGOs,” he claimed.