at least 34 Australians have been unaccounted for<\/a> following a deadly flash flood across Nepal and China that killed at least 160 people, on Wednesday, August 26. <\/p>\nBrisbane father Narayan Panthi was about to visit Mount Kailash on a pilgrimage when floodwaters struck.<\/p>\n
Mr Panthi was in the border town of Timure, which is located in a river valley in the Himalayas along the Bhote Koshi River, at least two hours before the floodwaters struck the town.<\/p>\n
As of Thursday afternoon, he has yet to make contact with his family. <\/p>\n
He shared a video to social media of the town before it was inundated by floodwaters. <\/p>\n
His last known contact with his family was when he arrived at the Nepal-China border crossing when he advised that he had a new SIM card and he was crossing the border into China. <\/p>\n
Mr Panthi was in the area to undertake the Mount Kailash pilgrimage, a sacred 52-kilometre trek in Tibet, revered by Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Bon followers. <\/p>\n
A prominent member of the Nepalese community in Brisbane, Mr Panthi served as the secretary of the Queensland Nepalese Cultural Centre. <\/p>\n
Premier David Crisafulli said his thoughts were with the Nepalese community abroad and in Queensland. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe world has woken this morning to devastating images out of Nepal,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur thoughts are with those overseas who are affected by this treatment, as well as their families and friends of those who are still missing, including a sizable number of Australians. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a rapidly unfolding situation, and we will continue to work to get any information we can about any Queenslanders affected. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis morning, I spoke to leaders in the Nepalese community in Queensland who are feeling the grief, they\u2019re feeling the anxiety that a tragedy like this brings. <\/p>\n
\u201cI want them to know how important they are. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve offered the support and assistance of the government and expressed our sorrow to a group of people who are genuinely such an important part of our community. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe will be there for them during a very difficult time.\u201d <\/p>\n
Nepalese Association of Queensland president Tikaram Sarma encouraged the Nepalese community to support each other during this time. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is devastating for the Nepalese community, not only in Queensland, but all over the world,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cTo the Nepalese community in Queensland, I just want to tell our community members to stay together and we are with them in every situation. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf anyone is affected, please reach out to us, we\u2019ll be there to help them.\u201d <\/p>\n
Queensland Nepalese Cultural Centre president Keshab Sharma said it was heartbreaking to see what had happened to his beloved homeland. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very sad event, for everyone who has seen those images and those videos, it\u2019s really heartbreaking,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone has experienced such an event in their life. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very sad.\u201d <\/p>\n
Mr Sharma asked Queenslanders to keep the Nepalese community in their thoughts at this time. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t do much because we are helpless at the moment,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a difficult time for everyone. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe can only pray.\u201d <\/p>\n
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner took to Facebook to express the city\u2019s heartbreak and support for the local Nepalese community.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor those grieving, those facing an uncertain road ahead and those here in Brisbane anxiously waiting for news of loved ones overseas, you are in our thoughts,\u201d Mr Schrinner wrote.<\/p>\n
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman said the department is aware of Australians being in the impacted area. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe extend our deepest sympathies to those affected by the significant flooding in Nepal and Tibet, China,\u201d the DFAT spokeswoman said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAustralians in the affected area should follow the advice of local authorities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are aware of a number of Australians in the area and Australian officials are urgently working to confirm their welfare. We are liaising with local authorities as well as tour operators.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe stand ready to provide consular assistance.\u201d <\/p>\n
Australians in need of emergency consular assistance should contact the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade\u2019s 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on 1300 555 135, or +61 2 6261 3305 (if calling from overseas). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are fears for a popular member of Brisbane\u2019s Nepalese community who was in a Nepalese town before…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81630,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[129146,129123,94274,129156,64696,129126,76770,36507,129155,129107,37330,129120,129165,129136,129150,129124,129144,129132,63476,129103,129134,45833,40351,129141,129130,44042,129131,129127,128664,129148,42694,44710,7458,99,129125,129143,115721,129128,2285,129149,38242,129135,129113,39649,129157,2601,45159,19741,90320,14215,14227,56612,129142,41909,129162,37416,129116,78364,129129,36287,52609,46493,80086,129105,129111,129154,24595,15340,129118,128581,129164,152,129158,40707,129145,82718,129133,63735,129163,7350,51481,212,129102,129140,38832,106,129112,129108,55223,72235,129104,36643,129147,38662,129121,36676,39084,129159,129166,23380,116685,129152,129122,129119,37772,129153,129138,129110,129139,86538,129109,129161,36993,129137,37120,129160,50787,118583,111373,37242,37452,113986,129117,126567,86091,129114,7444,129106,129151,129115,22441],"class_list":["post-81629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brisbane","tag-s-heartbreak-and-support","tag-s-nepalese-community","tag-s-video","tag-150-people","tag-a-brisbane-man","tag-a-deadly-flash-flood","tag-a-difficult-time","tag-a-group","tag-a-nepalese-town","tag-a-new-sim-card","tag-a-number","tag-a-pilgrimage","tag-a-popular-member","tag-a-prominent-member","tag-a-rapidly-unfolding-situation","tag-a-river-valley","tag-a-sacred-52-kilometre-trek","tag-a-sizable-number","tag-a-tragedy","tag-a-very-difficult-time","tag-a-very-sad-event","tag-a-video","tag-afternoon","tag-an-uncertain-road","tag-and-bon-followers","tag-any-information","tag-any-queenslanders","tag-at-least-160-people","tag-at-least-34-australians","tag-at-least-two-hours","tag-august-26","tag-australian-officials","tag-australians","tag-brisbane","tag-brisbane-father","tag-brisbane-father-narayan-panthi","tag-brisbane-man","tag-buddhists","tag-china","tag-consular","tag-contact","tag-deadly-flood","tag-devastating-images","tag-each-other","tag-every-situation","tag-facebook","tag-fears","tag-flash-flooding","tag-flash-floods","tag-floods","tag-floodwaters","tag-foreign-affairs-and-trade","tag-foreign-affairs-and-trade-spokeswoman","tag-hindus","tag-his-beloved-homeland","tag-his-family","tag-his-last-known-contact","tag-his-thoughts","tag-jains","tag-leaders","tag-local-authorities","tag-lord-mayor-adrian-schrinner","tag-loved-ones","tag-mount-kailash","tag-mr-panthi","tag-mr-schrinner-wrote-a-department","tag-mr-sharma","tag-nepal","tag-nepal-and-china","tag-nepal-and-tibet","tag-nepalese-association","tag-news","tag-np","tag-our-community","tag-our-community-members","tag-our-deepest-sympathies","tag-our-sorrow","tag-our-thoughts","tag-panthi","tag-people","tag-premier-david-crisafulli","tag-queensland","tag-queensland-nepalese-cultural-centre-president-keshab-sharma","tag-queensland-president-tikaram-sarma","tag-queenslanders","tag-social-media","tag-such-an-event","tag-such-an-important-part","tag-the-advice","tag-the-affected-area","tag-the-anxiety","tag-the-area","tag-the-bhote-koshi-river","tag-the-border","tag-the-border-town","tag-the-city","tag-the-department","tag-the-dfat-spokeswoman","tag-the-floodwaters","tag-the-government","tag-the-grief","tag-the-himalayas","tag-the-impacted-area","tag-the-local-nepalese-community","tag-the-moment","tag-the-mount-kailash-pilgrimage","tag-the-nepal-china-border","tag-the-nepalese-community","tag-the-queensland-nepalese-cultural-centre","tag-the-secretary","tag-the-significant-flooding","tag-the-support-and-assistance","tag-the-town","tag-the-town-as","tag-the-world","tag-their-families-and-friends","tag-their-life","tag-their-thoughts","tag-their-welfare","tag-this-morning","tag-this-time","tag-this-treatment","tag-those-grieving","tag-those-images","tag-those-overseas","tag-those-videos","tag-thursday","tag-tibet","tag-timure","tag-tour-operators","tag-wednesday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81629\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}