The number of Australians reported missing after deadly flash floods and landslides tore through valleys on the Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday has risen to 43, with most travelling with the Himalayan Glacier Adventures group, Kailash Journeys tour group, and the Isha Foundation.
Across Nepal and Tibet, more than 3,000 people have been reported missing, and Nepali and Chinese authorities have confirmed at least 810 deaths. Rescue efforts are continuing, and the figure for Australians missing no longer includes Cara Severino, 25, after the Sydney woman made contact with her parents two days after she was reported missing.
Tour groups account for most missing Australians
Pilgrims trekking to a holy site in Tibet make up the majority of Australians reported missing. Among them are Venkatraman Balakrishnan, 52, and Chitra Venkatraman, 46, a New South Wales couple who were among 15 Australians travelling to Mount Kailash on a spiritual trip with the Himalayan Glacier Adventures tour group. Their son, Akash Venkatraman, said his parents planned to leave their riverside accommodation in Syabrubesi before it was devastated by flood waters.
The Muralitharan family – Shylaja Muralitharan, 42, Chandresekaran Muralitharan, 47, and their children Ashwin, 14, and Aarush, 11 – were also taking part in the Himalayan Glacier Adventures spiritual tour to Mount Kailash when the flood hit. The parents and two children had been training together for the long walk, Shylaja's younger sister, Vaishnavi, said. She lost contact with the family shortly after breakfast on the morning of the flood.
Families hold on to hope
Sreedharan Iyer, 52, and Lakshmi Iyer, 50, and their adult sons Rishab, 23, and Rudhra, 20, were taking part in the spiritual pilgrimage to Mount Kailash with Himalayan Glacier Adventures. The Iyer brothers are medical students at the University of Newcastle and members of the West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook cricket club in Sydney's north-west.
Karan Bhardwaj, a 40-year-old Brisbane-based member of the Royal Australian Air Force, is also missing. His family member Jen said: "Karan is a dad to my beautiful seven-year-old nephew, as well as a brother, uncle and brother in law. He is so desperately loved by his family and right now we are desperately praying, hoping and believing that Karan is safe, alive and somehow making his way back to us."
Narayan Panthi, from Brisbane, has been listed by Nepalese police as travelling with operator Kathmandu Holiday Tours and Travel. It is understood Panthi had been carrying out independent volunteer charity work in Kathmandu earlier in the week before travelling towards the border region. His cousin, Amrit Bhusal, told Guardian Australia his family was devastated but "holding on to hope and praying for positive news". "We are still hoping," Bhusal said. "We are still searching. We are still praying for Narayan to come home safely." Bhusal said Panthi was "helping disadvantaged children in Nepal reach their full potential through education".
Isha Foundation pilgrims among the missing
Bharat Mangwani, 42, was travelling with the Isha Foundation as part of a pilgrimage to Lake Manasarovar when his family lost contact with him on Wednesday morning. He was last seen at Gyirong before the group was set to depart for Kathmandu. "All of us are praying for him and hopefully he comes back to us soon," close friend Kushagra Tiwari said. Mangwani's family, including his nine-year-old son and three-year-old daughter, have travelled to India with a family friend, while his wife has flown to Nepal to look for him.
Sumi Adhikari was at the Gyirong Post crossing with the Isha Foundation group when the flood hit. Her husband, Nava Pandey, has travelled to Nepal seeking information about her whereabouts. "We still have no clear or official information about Sumi or the other members of her group," Pandey said on Saturday morning.
Renee Spry, a Sunshine Coast disability support worker, was a "deeply spiritual" person who had travelled to Nepal on a pilgrimage. "She had two degrees, and she chose to do something that was … a completely selfless vocation. Her priority was always other people," her sister Clair Spry said. "Every person she touched, they knew her love and kindness. She would be so uncomfortable with all this." Spry has set up a GoFundMe so her family can travel to Nepal to look for signs of Renee.
Suhasini Kandimalla, a mother of two from Springfield, near Brisbane, was hiking with another Springfield local, according to her sister, Supreethini Kandimalla. While she was a New Zealand citizen, Suhasini had been approved for Australian citizenship, her sister said. She had planned to attend a citizenship ceremony for it to be granted soon after she returned. "I don't know if it was a religious calling for her to do it," Supreethini said of the Nepal trip. "But she certainly loved the treks in New Zealand too, and would go on lots of long hikes."
Newcastle woman Reshma Patel, 46, was in the Isha Foundation group. She didn't know Sumi Adhikari beforehand, but the pair had become friends on the pilgrimage, Patel's family friend Chin Valsan says. "They were talking to each other, and they were supposed to come back on the same flight on Thursday," he says. He describes Patel, who has two children aged 10 and 14, and works casually for Canterbury-Bankstown council, as "full of life" and a "kind soul" who loves her family and friends.
