A New South Wales couple on a spiritual pilgrimage are among the first Australians identified as missing after flash flooding ravaged the Nepal-Tibet border.
Venkatraman Balakrishnan, 52, and his wife, Chitra Venkatraman, 46, were among 15 Australians travelling to Mount Kailash in Tibet on a spiritual trip, according to their son.
Akash Venkatraman said his parents had planned to leave their riverside accommodation in Syabrubesi on Wednesday morning, before it was devastated by flood water.
Venkatraman lost contact with his parents yesterday, and has since received significant support from his community in Australia.
“The rest of us here have a wide range of support who are each trying their best to see what they can do,” he told Guardian Australia.
“Overall, I’m focused on continuing as normal as worrying will get me nowhere.”
Venkatraman said they had joined family friends in taking part in a tour operated by Himalayan Glacier Trekking. Sagar Pandey, the founder and chief executive of the tour operator, said he had lost all contact with his tour group of 47 people, which included 15 Australians.
Vasan Srinivasan said the missing Australians in that tour were Sydney-based members of his religious organisation, Australia Bharatha Brahman Samajam.
“It’s a group with family connections,” he said. “They are great contributors to our community and have assisted me with lots of my fundraising activities for mental health in New South Wales.”
Srinivasan, who is also the chief executive officer of the Mental Health Foundation Australia, said he was using all of his contacts in government to find their whereabouts.
“Hopefully God can give me the privilege of getting them home to Sydney,” he said.
The missing Australians ranged in age from 11 to 64 and the group included two families of four.
At least 165 people have died and hundreds more are missing after the devastating flood waters surged through the valley on both sides of the border with Tibet.
Pandey said he had since flown by helicopter over the Rasuwa area, where the tour was staying, and said he had little hope they survived.
“To be honest … you would think there was no human civilisation there at all.
“The flash flood swept away everything, everything, you couldn’t see any human creations.
“Still, I have a hope, but like 1%; the rest I don’t have a hope, they are missing and missing and missing.”
Pandey, who is also the president of the Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal, said he had been coordinating with other local tour groups, which had also lost contact with their guides in the area.
The area is popular with Hindus undertaking multi-day treks as part of the pilgrimage known as the Kailash Yatra.
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Among those groups were operators who had arranged tours for Australians, he said.
Pandey said his missing group included tourists from the UK, US, Canada and Singapore and his guides.
They had made their way to the valley after a drive of about seven hours from Kathmandu, and had been expected to head towards the border with China at about 8.30am on the day the flood struck.
Pandey said that on his helicopter flight he noticed about 100 people on higher ground, who he believed were local people who narrowly escaped the carnage.
Guardian Australia has confirmed the missing Australians include people from Sydney’s north-western suburbs, including separate families who were travelling together.
At least 10 of the missing group were from NSW.
The number of missing Australians is based on those reported by tour groups in the area, the foreign minister, Penny Wong, confirmed.
Kathmandu Holiday Tours and Travels is reporting one missing Australian, and was contacted for comment.
As many as six Australians were also reported to be travelling with Kailash Journeys Guides, who were also contacted for comment. The brother of one missing woman told Radio New Zealand said she was hiking with friends from Australia with the group.
The Trekkers’ Society, which posted a statement confirming 92 travellers including 77 foreign nationals had gone missing. They did not specify in the statement if any Australians were among those missing, but were contacted for comment.
“I can only outline the numbers that we are aware of to date … but I would say the number is at least 34,” Wong said.
“Those numbers are being provided … through tour operators.
“We will continue to try and ascertain if there are any other Australians who are not accounted for and over and above the 34.”
The Hindu Council Australia said in a statement that its thoughts and prayers were with the missing and “all those anxiously awaiting news of their loved ones.”
“We stand in solidarity with the people of Nepal, the affected families, the rescue teams and all communities impacted by this tragedy,” Sai Paravastu, the national president, said in the statement.
“We particularly recognise the distress being experienced by Australian families who are seeking information about loved ones in the affected region.”
