Number of Australians missing in Nepal floods climbs to 41 as government sends more staff

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs says the number of Australians unaccounted for in Nepal's devastating floods has climbed to 41, three more than the 38 reported missing on Friday evening.

Amid the grim tally, one family received welcome news: 25-year-old Cara Severino, the first Australian on the missing list, contacted her parents Debbie and Frank on Friday morning. She told them she was trekking more than 110km to Kathmandu with a group of Nepali hikers, moving away from the disaster area.

Scale of the disaster

The Red Cross estimates around 600 people died in Wednesday's flash floods along the Nepal-Tibet border, with as many as 93,000 potentially affected. Nepal's disaster management agency lists 1,924 people as unaccounted for, including 517 foreign tourists. By Friday evening, 121 foreigners had been rescued, none of them Australian. The foreign affairs department has fielded more than 450 calls related to the disaster.

Reinforcements on the ground

Four crisis response officers from the foreign affairs department were due to arrive in Kathmandu on Saturday to support consular work, alongside four rapid response specialists in logistics, communications and planning. This adds to roughly 20 personnel already stationed at Australia's embassy in Kathmandu.

Rescue operations in Nepal and China resumed Saturday morning after being paused over fears of further flooding. Keshav Kadel, vice president of the Australian Nepalese Multicultural Centre, said entire towns had been washed away, leaving only mudslides behind.

Aid response

Foreign minister Penny Wong spoke with her Nepali counterpart on Friday night, pledging further humanitarian assistance for rescue and recovery efforts. Australia has committed $5m in aid, with $2m going to the World Food Programme and the rest to the Emergency Action Alliance. Assistant minister Matt Thistlethwaite said the aid was provided at Nepal's request, while China has not yet asked for support. Officials have also held community forums and attended a vigil to support Australia's Nepalese and Tibetan diaspora communities.