A missing Australian man from the NSW South Coast had reached the Nepal-Tibet border just 10 minutes before flash flooding hit the region, as the death toll continues to climb. <\/p>\n
616 people have died in the natural disaster, and the total number of those unaccounted for spiked to 2400 overnight, with 41 Australians among them.<\/p>\n
Michael Keats has been confirmed as one of the missing 41 and had just reached the Nepal-Tibet border just moments before disaster struck, his family revealed in a statement.<\/p>\n
Mr Keats\u2019 relatives first thought he was safe, however, quickly learned he was unaccounted for.<\/p>\n
\u201cConfusion around the timing of the floods initially led us to believe our beautiful Michael would be safe in Kathmandu, preparing to fly home,\u201d they said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, it was confirmed relatively quickly by the Isha Foundation that Michael and his Kailash travel group had arrived at Gyirong Port on the Nepal-Tibet border just 10 minutes before the tragic floods hit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Keats\u2019 family said their thoughts and prayers are with every person affected by this tragic event.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are praying for a miracle for our beautiful Michael. Michael is the most beautiful soul,\u201d they said. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe is gentle and kind, with a unique light that touches everyone lucky enough to know him.\u201d<\/p>\n
His sister, Karen Hayley, said Mr Keats was \u201ca seeker, an adventurer, a truly beautiful soul.\u201d \u201cHe travelled to this sacred part of the world on a journey that held such deep meaning for him,\u201d she told followers on social media. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe is currently missing in Nepal and while our hearts are carrying the unbearable weight of not knowing, we are holding onto hope and praying for a miracle. <\/p>\n
\u201cCome home to us, Mike. You are loved beyond words.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a separate post she revealed her family had gathered at his \u201chappy place\u201d, in Sydney\u2019s south. A photo showed the family had created a vigil with photos of Mr Keats and candles, and gathered around. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the most surreal experience of my life,\u201d she wrote in a third post. <\/p>\n
\u201cMichael is missing, not confirmed deceased yet the grief is already immeasurable. There is still hope and we are holding on to that with everything we have. But at the same time, my heart is trying to comprehend something it simply cannot.\u201d <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Karan Bhardwaj, 40, a Brisbane father and member of the Royal Australian Air Force has been identified as another one of the Australians currently missing in Nepal. <\/p>\n
He was travelling with tour operator Kailash Journeys when the disaster hit on Wednesday morning. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re desperately waiting for news and praying with everything we have that Karan is safe and will come home to us all,\u201d his sister Jen Nai told the ABC.<\/p>\n
Assistant Foreign Minister Matt Thistlethwaite said Australian DFAT officials are \u201cworking around the clock\u201d and getting as close to the region as they possibly can. <\/p>\n
\u201cYesterday, Foreign minister, Penny Wong, had a phone call with the Nepalese Foreign Minister to express our deepest sympathies to the people of Nepal and to offer Australia\u2019s support,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs a result, we\u2019ve announced $5m worth of humanitarian aid to support the rescue and recovery and provide vital supplies to the affected communities and to ensure that Australia is doing its bit to help out. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve also been in touch with members of the Nepalese community here in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Minister Thistlethwaite said he attended a vigil at Strathfield on Friday night in unity with the Nepalese community to offer his support. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur condolences and to do all we can to get them through this difficult period,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Earlier on Saturday morning Minister Thistlethwaite said the government was working with crews from the Department of Foreign Affairs to \u201ctry and make contact with as many Australians as possible that we know are missing\u201d, as well as family members who had flown in to help with the search.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are working with people who are in the region, the Australians that we know,\u201d he told ABC Breakfast.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe roads are cut off. About 50,000 homes have been destroyed. There is no telecommunications infrastructure to the region. Power has been cut off. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo, our DFAT officials are getting as close as they possibly can to the region and we\u2019re working with those Australians that we know are on the ground there, trying to locate their loved ones, to provide them with as much support as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Late on Friday, the family of a Melbourne woman shared one of the few pieces of good news out of the region; their daughter was safe, had managed to find a phone and would be trekking for multiple days back to Kathmandu.<\/p>\n
NSW Premier Chris Minns said on Saturday that he is joining the chorus of concern for those caught up in the disaster. <\/p>\n
\u201cLiterally hundreds of people have lost their lives, potentially thousands. I know that there are many who are still missing, including Australians right now,\u201d he said on Saturday. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur heart bleeds for them. I imagine their families back in Australia are incredibly worried, and as the days go on, and the prospects of mining have become more and more dim, that anxiety can get worse and worse. <\/p>\n
\u201cI want them to know that the people of NSW and Australia are with them.\u201d <\/p>\n
Emergency teams have recovered 584 bodies as they work through the disaster area, and Nepal\u2019s disaster authority has added 933 hydropower workers to the list of the missing in Nepal and China, bringing the figure to 2400. <\/p>\n
Many of the Australians in the region were on religious pilgrimages. The Nepal Tourism Board has been providing numbers of citizens of various countries who have been rescued; Indians, South Koreans, Chinese, Russians, Americans, Italians and a Bulgarian citizen have been saved.<\/p>\n
As of late on Friday, no Australians had appeared on the salvation list.<\/p>\n
The husband of Newcastle mother Rashma Patel, 46, was expected to land in Kathmandu late on Friday night and begin searching for his wife.<\/p>\n
A family friend of the NSW family, Chin Valsan, said Ms Patel was about to finish her pilgrimage when the disaster struck on Wednesday, and she had not been heard from since.<\/p>\n
Bhavin Patel flew NSW on Friday morning.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s putting up a brave face for his kids but on the inside, he must be so distressed,\u201d their friend told the ABC.<\/p>\n
Ms Patel was one of 11 Australians trekking to Mount Kailash and checked in with immigration at the Tibet-Nepal border very shortly before the area was flooded.<\/p>\n
Many of the most-damaged areas are now only accessible by helicopter.<\/p>\n
But on Friday rescue efforts in one area were stopped for 90 minutes as a lake, created by the falling chunk of glacier which started the disaster, burst its banks.<\/p>\n
\u2018Running for their life\u2019<\/p>\n
Sharmina da Manandhar from UNICEF told the ABC the scale of the recovery efforts is \u201cseismic\u201d and international help is urgently needed. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are working very closely with the people of Nepal and doing everything we can to ensure children are protected, they have safe, they have safe water, they have the basic supplies, like hygiene materials that they require, so we are doing everything we can,\u201d she said on Saturday morning. <\/p>\n
However, Ms Manandhar said their concerns about ongoing risks of further flooding remain high. <\/p>\n
\u201cYes, we are aware of the risk, and we have heard reports regarding this, so this just highlights the need to reach at effected children and families as soon as possible,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey require the support and we need to reach them as soon as possible.\u201d <\/p>\n
Ms Manandhar described the situation as dire, and said dozens of people including women and children were sheltering inside one small school.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are staying there. They don\u2019t have anything. Imagine having to run for your life and you don\u2019t have a moment to pick up anything that you require,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey were just running for their life. They only have the clothes on their back, they don\u2019t have anything. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere are women who are on their periods and young girls there saying they don\u2019t have the hygiene supplies, so UNICEF yesterday dispatched hygiene kits.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe basic things of health care, have been wash add way. Schoolchildren have washed school supplies, pencils book, everything they had \u2013 everything has gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
More to come<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A missing Australian man from the NSW South Coast had reached the Nepal-Tibet border just 10 minutes before…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[37561,37048,131936,98129,131942,38917,131940,131956,131945,131932,131927,60271,36633,90524,131934,96366,40443,42186,36958,131941,131947,37726,131904,131928,131905,131943,79215,131907,99453,131908,86388,131925,131957,22,50913,23,131921,21,46993,50944,38242,41870,70855,58813,3052,10521,19741,131924,32245,22823,270,9715,9946,131902,36694,131930,37416,131915,38987,39388,52,41790,63149,131912,131937,131362,63733,131948,131929,131959,131950,76252,131919,131911,12070,37532,187,4516,131899,131900,36526,131951,131916,131944,36716,39252,15340,129547,152,379,36518,131953,46888,131903,131946,60474,82718,131914,48948,470,7350,3081,9875,89284,131926,16821,106,11399,131952,247,131910,131954,63945,125913,90527,131917,39084,41671,36700,131955,131357,23380,116685,39477,131920,131909,131939,131935,128646,128643,129110,131931,131906,37324,42948,131901,42949,50515,45688,36692,55587,50610,131933,131898,37120,111225,105600,61145,131958,131922,131913,131923,131938,83737,42214,131918,44835,131949,22441,44794,40605],"class_list":["post-82619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-s-south","tag-s-support","tag-5m-worth","tag-000-homes","tag-131942","tag-38917","tag-41-aussies","tag-41-australians","tag-131945","tag-616-people","tag-a-brisbane-father-and","tag-a-journey","tag-a-melbourne-woman","tag-a-miracle","tag-a-missing-australian-man","tag-a-phone","tag-a-phone-call","tag-a-photo","tag-a-result","tag-a-seeker","tag-a-separate-post","tag-a-statement","tag-a-statement-mr","tag-a-third-post","tag-a-truly-beautiful-soul","tag-a-unique-light","tag-a-vigil","tag-abc-breakfast","tag-about-50","tag-an-adventurer","tag-another-one","tag-as-many-australians","tag-as-much-support","tag-au","tag-aussie","tag-australia","tag-australian-dfat-officials","tag-austrlia","tag-concern","tag-confusion","tag-contact","tag-crews","tag-disaster","tag-every-person","tag-family","tag-family-members","tag-flash-flooding","tag-flooding-and-landslides","tag-followers","tag-foreign-affairs","tag-foreign-minister","tag-friday","tag-good-news","tag-gyirong-port","tag-her-family","tag-his-happy-place","tag-his-family","tag-his-kailash-travel-group","tag-his-sister","tag-his-support","tag-home","tag-hope","tag-humanitarian-aid","tag-its-bit","tag-jen-nai","tag-just-10-minutes","tag-just-minutes","tag-just-moments","tag-karan","tag-karan-bhardwaj","tag-karen-hayley","tag-kathmandu","tag-kathmandu-nsw-premier-chris-minns","tag-keats","tag-member","tag-members","tag-michael","tag-mike","tag-minister-thistlethwaite","tag-missing-spikes","tag-morning","tag-mr-keats","tag-mr-keats-and-candles","tag-multiple-days","tag-my-heart","tag-my-life","tag-nepal","tag-nepal-death-toll","tag-news","tag-newswire-news","tag-night","tag-no-telecommunications-infrastructure","tag-number","tag-one-family","tag-our-beautiful-michael","tag-our-condolences","tag-our-deepest-sympathies","tag-our-dfat-officials","tag-our-hearts","tag-penny-wong","tag-people","tag-photos","tag-power","tag-relatives","tag-sad-twist","tag-saturday","tag-social-media","tag-strathfield","tag-such-deep-meaning","tag-sydney","tag-the-abc-assistant-foreign-minister-matt-thistlethwaite","tag-the-affected-communities","tag-the-australians","tag-the-chorus","tag-the-clock","tag-the-death-toll","tag-the-department","tag-the-disaster","tag-the-family","tag-the-few-pieces","tag-the-floods","tag-the-government","tag-the-grief","tag-the-ground","tag-the-isha-foundation","tag-the-missing-41","tag-the-most-beautiful-soul","tag-the-most-surreal-experience","tag-the-natural-disaster","tag-the-nepal-tibet-border","tag-the-nepalese-community","tag-the-nepalese-foreign-minister","tag-the-nsw-south-coast","tag-the-people","tag-the-region","tag-the-rescue-and-recovery","tag-the-roads","tag-the-royal-australian-air-force","tag-the-same-time","tag-the-search","tag-the-timing","tag-the-total-number","tag-the-tragic-floods","tag-the-unbearable-weight","tag-the-world","tag-their-daughter","tag-their-loved-one","tag-their-loved-ones","tag-their-thoughts-and-prayers","tag-them-michael-keats","tag-this-difficult-period","tag-this-sacred-part","tag-this-tragic-event","tag-those-australians","tag-touch","tag-tour-operator-kailash-journeys","tag-unity","tag-vital-supplies","tag-wednesday","tag-words","tag-yesterday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82619","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=82619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}