Nepal-Tibet floods live updates: More Australians missing in flood catastrophe, workers rescued from tunnel

A Brisbane father and member of the Royal Australian Air Force is the latest Australian who has been identified as missing in Nepal after floods tore through the region.

Karan Bhardwaj, 40, was travelling with Kailash Journey’s tour group when the disaster hit on Wednesday morning.

His family said Mr Bhardwaj is “an Australian, a proud member of the Australian Defence Force, and a beloved father of one, brother, uncle, brother-in-law and friend to many”.

They described the agony they are experiencing as they are “desperately waiting for news and praying” for his safe return.

The family said they had not heard from Mr Bhardwaj or his two friends, Arpan Mithalal Kothari and Bhavin Raval, since the catastophe struck.

“We are praying with everything we have that Karan and his friends are safe and that they will be brought home.”

Intense video footage has emerged of powerful floodwaters barrelling around a building in Nepal as a group of fearful people huddle together on the balcony.

Assistant Immigration Minister Matt Thistlethwaite says the story of Cara Severino, the Australian who was unaccounted for before she contacted her parents on Friday, proves there is still hope for more miracles to come.

“We haven’t given up hope at all,” he said on Saturday.

“That’s why we’ve sent our experts that are trained in these situations around hopefully, recovery to go to the region.

“And that story about Cara is quite remarkable.”

But Mr Thistlethwaite stressed the dangerous terrain is proving “difficult” for rescue operations.

NSW Premier Chris Minns has thrown his support behind the families of the 41 Australians still missing in Nepal.

“Our heart bleeds for them,” he said.

“I imagine their families back in Australia are incredibly worried, and as the days go on and the prospects of finding them become more and more dim, that anxiety would get worse and worse.

“I want them to know that the people of NSW and Australia are with them.”

Chinese state media says the death toll in Tibet has climbed to seven as 554 people are still unaccounted for.

Rescue efforts in the region are expected to see the number of deceased people rise even further.

It is not clear if these figures overlap with those being recorded in Nepal, where nearly 2000 people remain missing and 570 people have died.

A representative from the United Nations who is on the ground in Nepal has described the “unreal” scenes she has seen in the emergency zone that has been destroyed by floods.

“The hardest part for me was when I heard the witnesses and they explain to me; you know we were on the other side of the river bank and there were people in the market and we heard them screaming when the big wave came and took them away,” United Nations Resident Coordinator in Nepal, Lila Pieters Yahia said.

“So what you see is unreal actually, the level of destruction is just unreal.”

The flood emergency has prompted a wide-spread response from leaders across Australia. Here is what they are saying.

Assistant Immigration Minister Matt Thistlethwaite said Australia is providing support to its Tibertan and Nepali communities during the time of heightened “anxiety”.

“There was quite a bit of despair and anxiety in (the) community;. We’re doing our best to support the Tibetan and Nepalese communities here in Australia,” he said.

Prime Minsiter Anthony Albanese said getting clear information about the impact of the disaster is difficult as the resources in Nepal are slim.

“People would have seen the footage, which is a truly horrific event. At this point, Nepal is a developing country. It doesn’t have the resources that an event like that would have in Australia, so information is difficult,” Mr Albanese said.

Foreign Minsiter Penny Wong said the Australian governemnt is continuing to determine how many Australians have been effected as the incident develops.

“We are urgently working to identify how many Australians have been in the region and to confirm the welfare of any Australians who are not accounted for,” she said.

Australian Nepalese Multicultural Centre vice president Keshav Kadel said the catastrophic flood has left a path of destruction that is dangerous and difficult for rescue teams to navigate.

“The gravity of the situation is worse now because whole towns have swept away. Now there is nothing, it’s just a mudslide,” Kadel said.

with AAP

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has recieved more than 450 calls in relation to the flood disaster.

Four officers from the department’s Crisis Response Teams are expected to touch down in Kathmandu later on Saturday to join ongoing efforts on the ground.

This will add to the existing 20 crews who are already in Kathmandu with the Australian embassy.

Army soldiers in Nepal have waded through thick mud in a race to free people trapped inside a tunnel at a hydroplant.

“As far as I can see, it’s nothing but debris,” rescue official Zou Mingqi told state media.

Dramatic vision, posted by Nepal Prime Minsiter Balendra Shah, shows the moment rescuers pull trapped workers from the tunnel.

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