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<\/p>\nSydney family and friends of Australians still missing amid the destruction in Nepal have said they \u201cwon\u2019t give up on hope\u201d as they pray that the lost Aussies will return home.<\/p>\n
Of the (at least) 39 Australians the Nepalese authorities have said were still unaccounted for on Friday afternoon, the majority were Hindu Australians embarking on the sacred Mount Kailash pilgrimage, with many from Sydney\u2019s outer northwest suburbs.<\/p>\n
Umesh, 55, and Krishna Sharma, 50, were planning to cross the Nepal-Tibet border on the pilgrimage.<\/p>\n
The Pemulwuy husband and wife were travelling with a group of about 10 Australians with the Himalayan Glacier tour company before disaster struck.<\/p>\n
Their son, 23-year-old Chitrak, said he was holding onto hope they managed to survive.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy hope is that they found out there was a flood coming \u2026 and they decided to find higher ground,\u201d he said, describing his parents as his \u201ceverything\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything I\u2019ve ever wanted to do, I\u2019ve wanted to do for them. If I wanted to be successful, it was to give them everything they wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chitrak said he last spoke to his parents on Tuesday night, when they were still in Kathmandu. He now waits with bated breath for good news.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to know where they are,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Other Australians on that same trip with the Sharmas include the Cherrybrook-based Iyer family: mother Lakshmi, father Sreedharan, and sons Rishab, 24, and Rudhra, 21.<\/p>\n
Chitrak described the young men as \u201cbrothers\u201d and said the Iyers were well-liked across The Hills district.<\/p>\n
Neighbours Margaret and Barry Young described them as a \u201clovely family\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe (Iyer family) are just lovely people, anyone will tell you that,\u201d Ms Young said.<\/p>\n
On that same trip were the Muralitharan family: Shylaja and Chandrasekaran with their sons Ashwin, 11, and Aarush, 14.<\/p>\n
Based in Sydney\u2019s northwest, the family had been training for the \u201cjourney of a lifetime\u201d and have been described as \u201cbeautiful\u201d people. <\/p>\n
Neighbour Sam Ghosh said he \u201ccouldn\u2019t sleep for days\u201d and that it was too sad to even glance at the Muralitharans\u2019 front door. His wife, Shy, said the entire ordeal was a \u201cnightmare\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they have reached higher ground, someone will be there to rescue them\u2026 I won\u2019t give up on hope\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The Muralitharans\u2019 other neighbour, Ragu Kanagaraj, called them \u201cthe kindest people\u201d he\u2019d ever seen.<\/p>\n
On the same trip were Woodcroft husband and wife Venkatraman Balakrishnan, 52, and Chitra Venkatraman, 46.<\/p>\n
Their two sons, aged 19 and 12, remained in Sydney. Chaplains from the Hindu Council of Australia have been supporting the boys, who don\u2019t have other relatives in Sydney.<\/p>\n
They told The Telegraph that Mr Balakrishnan and Ms Venkatraman were beloved and valued community members who ran a catering business supplying vegetarian Indian dishes.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore they left, a regular client asked if they could cater for an event the day before they flew out,\u201d the chaplain said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe couple said: \u2018we\u2019re supposed to be going away, but because you\u2019re a great customer we\u2019ll make it work\u2019. And they cooked all the food on the Saturday and then flew out on the Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among the 39 Australians unaccounted for is Parramatta-based IT worker Gopi Krishna Naidu Agastya and Sydney woman Sumi Adhikari, whose husband Nava Pandey has travelled to Nepal since the devastating tragedy.<\/p>\n
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