AUSTRALIANS MISSING IN NEPAL FLOODS RISES TO 41 AS RESCUE EFFORTS CONTINUE

The number of Australians reported missing following catastrophic flooding in Nepal has risen to 41, according to the Australian government's department of foreign affairs. The figure increased by three overnight from 38 unaccounted for on Friday evening. One Australian, Cara Severino, has been confirmed safe after making contact with her parents on Friday morning; she was hiking away from the disaster zone towards Kathmandu with a group of Nepali hikers on a trek exceeding 110 kilometres. The Australian government has deployed four rapid response teams to Kathmandu and received more than 450 calls related to the disaster.

The flooding occurred on Wednesday along the Nepal-Tibet border following what the US Geological Survey attributed to a glacial collapse that triggered a vast flow of icy debris. According to the Red Cross, around 600 people were dead, with as many as 93,000 people affected. Nepal's disaster management agency reported 1,924 people unaccounted for overall, including 517 foreign tourists. Rescue operations faced significant obstacles from the threat of renewed flooding; Nepali police urged rescuers to move to safe locations after receiving information that a water dam had burst again on the Tibetan side. One report put the number of bodies recovered at 586 so far, with some of the deceased swept downstream as far as India.

Australian charities have begun deploying aid through the Emergency Action Alliance, a peak body representing major Australian charities currently raising funds for emergency shelters, food, safe drinking water, hygiene supplies and medical care. Rescue operations in Nepal and China resumed on Saturday morning after being suspended due to flooding risks. Conditions on the ground remain difficult and unpredictable given the scale of damage and heavy monsoon weather.