KATHMANDU — The death toll from last week’s Nepal–Tibet flash floods has climbed above 1,300, with about 5,500 still missing, as Australian families press searches near the destroyed Gyirong border crossing and a 15-person Australian drone specialist team arrives to help, ABC News reported Saturday.
Six Australians have been found safe; 36 remain unaccounted for, many last known near the Friendship Bridge or along roads toward Syabrubesi after Mount Kailash pilgrimages. Bhavin Patel hired a helicopter to fly over his wife Reshma’s last phone coordinates and said he saw little rescue activity. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the drone team will provide mapping and thermal imaging for ground crews.
China lists six Australians among the missing on the Tibetan side and says it has deployed more than 2,300 rescue workers and hundreds of drone flights; it has not accepted international search assistance. Two hydropower workers were pulled alive from the Upper Trishuli 3A tunnel on Friday, nine days after the floods.
Sources: ABC News; Sydney Morning Herald.
