{"id":874754,"date":"2026-08-31T07:32:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T07:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/874754\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T07:32:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T07:32:11","slug":"australians-missing-in-the-nepal-floods-what-we-know-so-far-nepal-tibet-flood-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/874754\/","title":{"rendered":"Australians missing in the Nepal floods: what we know so far | Nepal-Tibet flood disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pilgrims trekking to a holy site in Tibet make up the majority of Australians who have been reported missing after deadly flash floods<\/a> and landslides tore through valleys on the Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The total number of Australians missing in the disaster rose to 43 on Monday, with most travelling with Himalayan Glacier Adventures, Kailash Journeys, and the Isha Foundation.<\/p>\n

Cara Severino<\/a>, 25, is no longer included in the figure after the Sydney woman made contact with her parents, two days after she was reported missing.<\/p>\n

Across Nepal and Tibet, more than 3,000 people have been reported missing and Nepali and Chinese authorities have confirmed at least 810 had died.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what we know about the Australians who remain missing. This article will be updated as more information becomes available.<\/p>\n

Venkatraman Balakrishnan and Chitra Venkatraman<\/p>\n

New South Wales couple Venkatraman Balakrishnan, 52, and Chitra Venkatraman, 46, were among 15 Australians travelling to Mount Kailash on a spiritual trip with the Himalayan Glacier Adventures tour group.<\/p>\n

Chitra Venkatraman. Photograph: supplied<\/p>\n

Their son, Akash Venkatraman, said his parents planned to leave their riverside accommodation in Syabrubesi before it was devastated by flood waters.<\/p>\n

Venkatraman Balakrishnan. Photograph: suppliedMuralitharan family <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

From left: Shylaja, Aarush, Ashwin and Chandrasekaran Muralitharan. Photograph: Provided by family<\/p>\n

The parents and two children had been training together for the long walk, Shylaja\u2019s younger sister, Vaishnavi, said.<\/p>\n

She had lost contact with the family shortly after breakfast on the morning of the flood.<\/p>\n

Iyer family<\/p>\n

Sreedharan Iyer, 52, and Lakshmi Iyer, 50, and their adult sons Rishab Iyer, 23, and Rudhra Iyer, 20, were taking part in the spiritual pilgrimage to Mount Kailash with Himalayan Glacier Adventures.<\/p>\n

The Iyer brothers are medical students at the University of Newcastle and members of the West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook Cricket Club in Sydney\u2019s north-west.<\/p>\n

Karan Bhardwaj<\/p>\n

Karan Bhardwaj is a 40-year-old Brisbane-based member of the Royal Australian Air Force.<\/p>\n

Australian defence force member Karan Bhardwaj. Photograph: supplied<\/p>\n

\u201cKaran is a dad to my beautiful seven-year-old nephew, as well as a brother, uncle and brother in law,\u201d said his family member Jen. \u201cHe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Narayan Panthi<\/p>\n

Narayan Panthi, from Brisbane, has been listed by Nepali police as travelling with operator Kathmandu Holiday Tours and Travel<\/a>. It is understood Panthi had been carrying out independent volunteer charity work in Kathmandu earlier in the week before travelling towards the border region.<\/p>\n

Panthi\u2019s cousin, Amrit Bhusal, told Guardian Australia his family were devastated but \u201cholding on to hope and praying for positive news\u201d.<\/p>\n

Narayan Panthi was helping disadvantaged children in Nepal. Photograph: Supplied<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are still hoping,\u201d Bhusal said. \u201cWe are still searching. We are still praying for Narayan to come home safely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bhusal said Panthi was \u201chelping disadvantaged children in Nepal reach their full potential through education\u201d.<\/p>\n

Bharat Mangwani<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Bharat Mangwani was travelling with the Isha Foundation group. Photograph: supplied<\/p>\n

He was last seen at Gyirong before the group was set to depart for Kathmandu.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of us are praying for him and hopefully he comes back to us soon,\u201d close friend Kushagra Tiwari said.<\/p>\n

Mangwani\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Sumi Adhikari<\/p>\n

Sumi Adhikari, 41, was at the Gyirong Port crossing with the Isha Foundation group when the flood hit.<\/p>\n

Her husband, Nava Pandey, has travelled to Nepal seeking information about her whereabouts.<\/p>\n

Nava Pandey is trying to find his wife, Sumi Adhikari. Photograph: Supplied<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still have no clear or official information about Sumi or the other members of her group,\u201d Pandey said on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n

Renee Spry<\/p>\n

A Sunshine Coast disability support worker, Renee Spry has been described as a \u201cdeeply spiritual\u201d person who travelled to Nepal on a pilgrimage.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had two degrees, and she chose to do something that was \u2026 a completely selfless vocation. Her priority was always other people,\u201d her sister Clair Spry said.<\/p>\n

Renee Spry is among the missing in Nepal. Photograph: GoFundMe<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery person she touched, they knew her love and kindness. She would be so uncomfortable with all this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clair Spry has set up a GoFundMe so her family can travel to Nepal to look for signs of Renee.<\/p>\n

Suhasini Kandimalla<\/p>\n

A mother of two from Springfield, near Brisbane, Suhasini Kandimalla was hiking with another Springfield local, according to her sister, Supreethini Kandimalla.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"SuhasiniSuhasini Kandimalla. Photograph: Supplied<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if it was a religious calling for her to do it,\u201d Supreethini said of the Nepal trip.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut she certainly loved the treks in New Zealand too, and would go on lots of long hikes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reshma Patel<\/p>\n

Newcastle woman Reshma Patel, 46, was in the Isha Foundation group. She didn\u2019t know Sumi Adhikari beforehand, but the pair had become friends on the pilgrimage, Patel\u2019s family friend Chin Valsan says.<\/p>\n

Reshma Patel was in the Isha Foundation group. Photograph: Pr Image\/AAP<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were talking to each other, and they were supposed to come back on the same flight on Thursday,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

He describes Patel, who has two children aged 10 and 14 and works casually for Canterbury-Bankstown council, as \u201cfull of life\u201d and a \u201ckind soul\u201d who loves her family and friends.<\/p>\n

Kanagamah Sundrasan<\/p>\n

The mother of two from Springfield, near Brisbane, was part of the Kailash Journey trek to Mount Kailash.<\/p>\n

Her daughter, Swaatika Kanniah, said her mother had been excited about the hike.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a pilgrimage, she really wanted to go and have that experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kanagamah Sundrasan, who is missing in Nepal. Photograph: supplied<\/p>\n

A photograph of her on the trip shows her with smiling with five other members of the tour; all are now missing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like everyone trying their best, but yes we don\u2019t know much about what\u2019s going on,\u201d Kanniah said of the recovery efforts.<\/p>\n

Michael Keats<\/p>\n

The family of Keats has confirmed his death.<\/p>\n

Keats\u2019s wife, Emily Boyd, said on Instagram on Sunday that he had been on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, which had been his \u201cdream for many years\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMike went on a pilgrimage to Mt Kailash seeking enlightenment,\u201d Boyd said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a bittersweetness knowing that there was nothing more that Mike wanted [than] to know God, and to merge with the divine.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a mystic, a medicine man, a teacher, leader, partner, father, brother, son, uncle and dearly beloved friend. He showed up for so many people in so many ways. A heart of pure gold. We love you forever and always.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pilgrims trekking to a holy site in Tibet make up the majority of Australians who have been reported…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":874755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-874754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=874754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/874755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=874754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=874754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=874754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}