Aid makes its way to Nepal as rescuers hope for miracle
Humanitarian help is heading to a devastated region as an Australian tunnel expert says it is likely some of those missing could still be alive.
The government is sending humanitarian aid to Nepal as dozens of Australians remain missing after devastating floods killed hundreds in the Himalayan mountains.
The government said on Tuesday morning that 43 Australians were still missing after a massive mudslide and flood hit Nepal’s border with Tibet, killing at least 939 people and leaving 3925 people missing, including 592 foreign nationals.
An Australian Air Force C-17A full of Australian aid pallets is expected depart Brisbane early on Tuesday carrying humanitarian supplies, equipment and personnel to support communities devastated by the floods.
Australia has sent an 18-person response team and pledged millions in aid, including hygiene kits and solar lights.
Rescue crews near the Tibetan Plateau are desperately battling the clock in the search for survivors among the rubble, as mass burials begin.
You might like
Australian tunnelling expert Professor Arnold Dix is remotely assisting with the rescue mission, and is hopeful more people will be found alive inside power station tunnels previously blocked by mud and debris.
“I’m in the business of miracles,” Dix told Nine’s Today program on Tuesday.
“The best place to be, not to be killed, would have been in one of our tunnels – so if they survived that, they can be alive in there for a long period of time.
Stay informed, daily
“If people want to be alive and they’ve got access to water, they can do it for weeks – we’ve got time on our side but of course we want to get there quickly.”
The rescue efforts are ramping up as hundreds of Nepali and Tibetan diaspora, along with members of the wider community, united at a candlelight vigil at Melbourne’s Federation Square on Monday evening, five days on from the disaster.
Buddhist monks and Hindu priests chanted sacred mantras as community members young and old laid electric candles and said prayers at a mural at the foot of the stage.
”Behind every missing person is a family living through unbearable, uncertainty, hoping for a phone call, reunion, or a final answer,” Victoria United for Nepal’s Nirajan Gauli told the crowd.
Many of the Australians missing were completing the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra – a spiritual journey significant across several religions including Hinduism and Buddhism.
Sydney IT worker Gopi Krishna Naidu Agastya, Royal Australian Air Force member Karan Bhardwaj, Sydney woman Sumi Adhikari and Sunshine Coast woman Renee Spry have also been confirmed among the Australians missing in the tragedy.
Agastya, 45, had completed the pilgrimage with spiritual tour company the Isha Foundation alongside a large group including 10 other Australians.
The Parramatta man was clearing immigration at the Gyirong port on the Nepal-China border en route back to Kathmandu when the powerful flood hit, his friend Murthy Yeluru said.
“It was a dream of his to visit this Mansarovar, it’s a very rare opportunity,” Yeluru said.
Want to see more stories from InDaily SA in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily SA as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily SA". That's it.
