source : the age
Hello and welcome back to our live coverage of news from Australia and around the world, as search and rescue efforts continue in Nepal and Tibet after an ice avalanche caused catastrophic flash floods. The total death toll has risen to 389 and 39 Australians are missing.
- Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Friday morning that the number of Australians missing in the disaster had risen to 39, up from 35.
- Two boys aged 11 and 14 are among a group of 15 Australians who were travelling together through the region with a US-based tourism operator when the catastrophic floods hit. The entire travel group is yet to be accounted for.
- More than 1300 people, including more than 667 foreigners from 33 countries, remain unaccounted for, as Nepalese authorities say they are yet to determine the number of locals missing.
- The danger has not passed for those in the flood-affected areas. Nepal and China both warned yesterday of fresh risks of flooding in the Himalayas as two lakes that have developed on each side of their border threaten to burst.
- More information has emerged about the origins of the deadly flooding, which was likely set off in part by an enormous chunk of ice snapping off a glacier and cascading thousands of feet to the valley below, in a phenomenon known as an ice avalanche.
Read more on the Nepal flood disaster:
Intrepid Travel, one of Australia’s largest global tour companies, has urged travellers with upcoming bookings in Nepal to stay in contact with their tour operators as they continue to monitor the situation on the ground in the aftermath of the catastrophic floods.
Brett Mitchell, ANZ managing director at Intrepid, said the tour company operated a total of 26 itineraries in Nepal, but only two passed through the flood-affected region.
Intrepid confirmed yesterday none of its travellers were in the affected area at the time of the flood.
“The priority for the region is on recovery efforts following these events. This is an unfolding situation and the true scope of the disaster is still being assessed. The safety of our customers, staff and host communities remains our highest priority,” Mitchell said in a statement.
“We are closely monitoring developments and continuing to assess the impact on current trips, transportation services, accommodations and upcoming departures. Intrepid will continue assessing the situation and make any necessary changes as required.”
Experts say Nepal’s early warning system relied on a network of river gauges that was poorly equipped to alert people of the deadly wall of water that swept through the region, the New York Times reports.
Geologists believe the flash floods in Nepal and Tibet were triggered by a dual high-altitude landslide and glacial avalanche that unleashed huge volumes of water.
Experts in disaster response said the speed of the cascade and its extremely remote origin in the Himalayan mountains made it nearly impossible for Nepal’s warning system to alert residents in time to move to safer ground, the Times reported.
The gauges in rivers and lakes are designed to detect the slower rising water levels in a monsoon-driven flood or glacial lake outburst flood.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong says it is likely the number of missing Australians will continue to rise due to the remoteness of the disaster zone and the difficulty communicating with those on the ground.
“It is an unfortunate possibility. Obviously, it’s a very difficult situation. It’s a remote location. So we are urgently working to identify how many Australians are in, have been, in the region, and to confirm the welfare of any Australians who are not accounted for,” she told ABC Radio National this morning.
Wong confirmed there were 39 Australians still missing, up from 35. She said the additional four were travelling separately to the tour groups.
Australia has deployed a total of 20 consular staff to Nepal. Wong said they would be joined by another four officers, along with three humanitarian response specialists, in the next 24 hours.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor says his thoughts and prayers are with the Nepalese-Australian community as they come to terms with the scale of the unfolding tragedy in Nepal.
“It’s obviously a terrible tragedy, and can I acknowledge the family and friends, the loved ones of those missing Australians, this is a very tough time for them. Our thoughts and prayers are with them, and with the Nepalese Australian community,” Taylor, whose electorate is Hume in NSW, told Nine’s Today show.
“There’s a significant Nepalese Australian community in my own electorate, and they are obviously feeling enormous pain right now. As I say, our thoughts and prayers, my thoughts and prayers, are absolutely with them. All of our thoughts are with all those affected.”
American officials said about 90 US citizens remained unaccounted for, a day after catastrophic flash floods engulfed a border area of China and Nepal, killing hundreds of people.
In a statement, the US State Department said it was not aware of any US deaths, but three Americans have been rescued.
Many of the missing were on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet, a sacred site for Hindus, Buddhists and others.
Indian spiritual guru Jaggi Vasudev, also known as Sadhguru, said in a post on X that 77 people returning from Mount Kailash with groups organised by his Isha Foundation were at an immigration centre in Gyirong, Tibet, when the floods struck. The Isha Foundation told ABC News that 22 of those 77 people were Americans.
There are 39 Australians missing in Nepal and China, Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed this morning, updating the figure from 35, as the government continues urgently working to confirm their welfare.
“The extraordinary scale of this disaster and the remoteness of the affected region mean immense challenges lie ahead for the response and recovery,” a statement from Wong’s office read.
As search and recovery efforts continue in flood-ravaged Nepal and authorities warn of a second flood risk, survivors are grappling with the magnitude of the disaster.
The Nepali army has rescued 350 people from a tunnel near the Trishuli River in central Nepal, according to the country’s prime ministerial office.
Footage posted on social media shows rescue teams belaying down the walls of the tunnel.
Those rescued were workers and locals, according to the prime minister, and the army is still working to rescue another 100 people still trapped inside.
Nepal and China both warned yesterday of fresh risks of flooding in the Himalayas as two lakes that have developed on each side of their border threaten to burst.
The Nepalese disaster authority issued a notice warning that a lake formed by debris blocking a river at the flood site is rising and at risk of bursting.
“Residents of the lower banks… passengers, rescuers engaged in rescue operations, and all concerned are requested to exercise special caution and stay in safe places away from the river banks and risky areas,” the authority said.
China warns that 3 million cubic meters of water – the equivalent of about 1200 Olympic swimming pools – are expected to flow into an already dammed lake on its side of the border over the next three days, creating a high risk of a breach, with peak flow expected about September 1.
The formation of a barrier lake was captured in aerial footage by a Chinese rescue team yesterday, state broadcaster CGTN reported.
Hello and welcome back to our live coverage of news from Australia and around the world, as search and rescue efforts continue in Nepal and Tibet after an ice avalanche caused catastrophic flash floods. The total death toll has risen to 389 and 39 Australians are missing.
- Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Friday morning that the number of Australians missing in the disaster had risen to 39, up from 35.
- Two boys aged 11 and 14 are among a group of 15 Australians who were travelling together through the region with a US-based tourism operator when the catastrophic floods hit. The entire travel group is yet to be accounted for.
- More than 1300 people, including more than 667 foreigners from 33 countries, remain unaccounted for, as Nepalese authorities say they are yet to determine the number of locals missing.
- The danger has not passed for those in the flood-affected areas. Nepal and China both warned yesterday of fresh risks of flooding in the Himalayas as two lakes that have developed on each side of their border threaten to burst.
- More information has emerged about the origins of the deadly flooding, which was likely set off in part by an enormous chunk of ice snapping off a glacier and cascading thousands of feet to the valley below, in a phenomenon known as an ice avalanche.
Read more on the Nepal flood disaster:
