Aussies among thousands missing in Nepal after catastrophic floods kill hundreds

There are at least 35 Australian tourists still missing after a catastrophic flash flood struck near the Nepal-Tibet border, the Nepalese Tourism Board confirmed, as search and rescue efforts continued a day after the disaster.

The Australians are among the more than 1400 people missing after the collapse of a glacier sent a deadly wall of water and mud several storeys high tearing through communities on Wednesday.

The death toll from the tragedy climbed to 360 on Thursday night AEST, as family members of those missing face a nervous wait for news of their loved ones.

Included in those 35 missing Australians are 15 people travelling with Himalayan Glacier Adventures.

The US-based travel company confirmed it had lost contact with the group, which includes Umesh and Krishna Sharma, the Iyer family, as well as Chitra and Balakrishnan Ventrakamen.

The group also includes two young boys, aged 11 and 14, who are believed to be travelling with their parents.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described it as “a truly horrific event”, while Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the government was doing what it could to get more details.

“We are urgently seeking to confirm the welfare and whereabouts of Australians ... [but] access and information are very limited,” Wong said.

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Pilgrims on spiritual trip caught in Nepal-Tibet flood horror

The Australians were among 517 foreigners missing, according to Nepal’s Tourism Board, with about 178 of them from India.

More than 60 of those unaccounted for in Nepal are from the US and the rest are from 30 other countries, ranging from Ukraine and the UK to South Africa and Japan, the board said.

Many of the missing may have been on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet, a sacred site for Hindus, Buddhists and others.

In addition, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lin Jian said that nearly 100 Chinese citizens were missing on the Nepal side of the border.

He said that according to preliminary information, 260 of those missing in Tibet were foreigners.

‘They’re all I have’

Umesh and Krishnam Sharma’s son Chitrak Sharma told 9News that his parents headed to the country for a pilgrimage.

“They were very excited that they got the opportunity,” Chitrak said.

“It hadn’t started yet. Last I knew, they were at the border. I’ve just been trying to get in contact with them ... trying to get updates on their whereabouts.

“I’ve been calling hospitals. I just want to find my parents. They’re all I have, really.”

Chitrak dropped his parents off at the airport last week. The last time he spoke to his mother was two days ago, right before the mountain collapsed.

“I said bye to them and I didn’t think it was the last time I was ever going to see them,” he said.

“I would do anything just to bring them home.”

Magnitude 5.2 ice avalanche behind floods

What was believed to be an earthquake at first is now thought to have been an enormous chunk of ice from a glacier falling more than a kilometre to the valley below, triggering the tidal wave.

The magnitude 5.2 glacier collapse - a phenomenon known as an ice avalanche - sent debris flowing downstream and collected everything in its path, launching an inland tsunami that devastated multiple villages.

Scientists are still piecing together information from satellite and ground-level data to figure out exactly what happened to cause the flood.

However, preliminary investigations suggest it was likely that a huge chunk of a glacier broke off and temporarily dammed a river, which may have led to the backed-up water surging downstream with enormous force a few hours later.

“A lower part of a glacier has really come off,” Jakob Steiner, a geoscientist at the University of Graz in Austria who is currently based in Bangladesh said.

“If you look at the imagery it’s like someone cut with a huge knife through the whole lower part and it fell off.”

Steiner said a mass of glacial ice dropping from a great height could have felt like a bomb exploding, resulting in the chaos that followed.

Scientists said it is too early to draw a direct connection between global warming and Wednesday’s catastrophe. 

Sudden rise in water levels gave no chance to escape

Water levels in rivers across the flood-affected region rose by as much as 9 metres in 30 minutes as a result of the surge from the glacial detachment upstream, researchers at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development said.

“It was a huge rise, a huge surge of water that happened suddenly,” Saswat Sanyal, a disaster risk reduction specialist at the Kathmandu-based climate research group said.

Preliminary evidence suggests a large volume of ice and rock may have plunged into the Lhende Khola, a tributary of the Bhote Koshi River.

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‘They’re all I have’: Families fear for at least 35 Australians missing in Nepal flash floods

Researchers said the collapse could have displaced water and picked up loose sediment and boulders, producing a powerful surge downstream.

Researchers are also examining whether debris temporarily dammed the river before the impounded water burst through, magnifying the flood.

Satellite images taken on Thursday show a torrent of rocks and mud on the Nepalese mountain range, on the border.

Steiner said the area has a history of destructive mountain hazards. 

The increasingly unstable Himalayan ice system threatens communities, infrastructure and water supplies across one of the world’s most densely populated regions.

Floods originating from a glacial lake struck the same valley in August 2025, killing nine people and damaging critical infrastructure, including a bridge connecting Nepal and China.

While there was also an ice and rock avalanche elsewhere in the area in 2024. The broader Langtang region was also hit by devastating avalanches during Nepal’s 2015 earthquake.

Helicopters were deployed for rescue because roads were damaged

Among the stories of tragedy were some of hope, with members of the armed forces rescuing more than 100 people from flood-affected areas through helicopter operations, army spokesperson Brigadier General Raja Ram Basnet said. 

Army teams also evacuated people trapped inside facilities linked to the Trishuli hydropower project, he added.

Dozens of injured people have been transported to Kathmandu for advanced medical care.

Rescuers found bodies hundreds of kilometres downstream from the hardest-hit areas of Chitwan district.

Bishal Kumar Bhandari, chairman of the Nepal Red Cross Society, said they have shifted their focus from rescue to large-scale relief operations in the flood-hit districts. He said that about 1200 people were displaced from at least three villages.

Meanwhile, the Australian Red Cross announced on Thursday that all donations made to its fund until September 30 would go directly towards supporting the response.

Chinese authorities deployed a large military transport aircraft to send a team to the region, and the country’s premier, Li Qiang, arrived in Gyirong on Thursday to direct rescue efforts.

Chinese authorities also warned that a barrier lake, which formed at the confluence of the Tsogyal and the Purupqiangzangbu rivers, is overflowing and may burst.

- Reported with Associated Press.