Nepal flash flooding raises concerns for missing Australians with rising death toll

More than 150 people have died and hundreds of tourists and hikers are missing after a flash flood hit the Tibet-Nepal border.

The flood happened on Wednesday morning, local time, killing at least 157 people in Nepal and three in Tibet, according to local authorities. China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported 265 were missing in the Tibet region’s Gyirong County near the border, while state news agency Xinhua reported significant casualties. Officials at Nepal’s tourism ministry told media outlets that more than 400 tourists were missing, of whom around 340 were foreigners.

Nepal tourism board officials said the flood hit near a popular route to Kailash Manasarovar in Tibet, a site visited annually at this time by hundreds of Hindu pilgrims, and near Langtang National Park, a popular hiking destination.

A Nepal tourism board spokesperson said 47 of the missing tourists were from the United States, 34 from Australia, 33 from Britain and 24 from Canada. The number of missing Australians is confirmed by Albanese on Thursday morning. They include one Australian who was travelling with Kathmandu Holiday Tours and Travel.

Albanese said the government was liaising with local authorities and tour operators to confirm the welfare of Australians in Nepal. In a statement on Thursday morning, Australia’s foreign minister Penny Wong said the loss of life and destruction caused by flash flooding in Nepal and China is devastating, and their thoughts are with the loved ones of those killed or missing and all affected by this disaster.

A joint statement about this incident is also issued by the embassies of Australia, Finland, France, Norway, Switzerland and the UK in Nepal.