Live: Nepal-Tibet flood kills 392, as Australians remain among hundreds missing

Search efforts continue as thousands are still missing following a devastating flash flood in Nepal and Tibet.Recap Here is a summary of today's events:At least 392 people have been killed and nearly 1,500 are missing after deadly flash floods struck villages in the border region between Nepal and Tibet on Wednesday.The floods were likely triggered by a large chunk of ice breaking off a Himalayan glacier, according to satellite imagery, sending tonnes of ice and rock tumbling into a river below.At least 35 Australians are missing, according to the Nepal Tourism Board. Foreign Minister Penny Wong says DFAT is "urgently" seeking an update on the welfare of missing Australians. She says they were part of separate pilgrimages and tour group. The department's 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre can be reached at 1300 555 135, or +61 2 6261 3305 (if calling from overseas).The Red Cross's local representative in Nepal said "entire villages and market areas" were wiped out by the flooding. Fri 28 Aug 2026 at 5:10amFri 28 Aug 2026 at 5:10amFamilies desperately seek information on missing loved onesMany of the people rescued are being taken to the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu which has become crowded with relatives trying to find their loved ones.The walls are lined with lists of people's names who are being treated inside the hospital.People look for their relatives' names on lists. (ABC News)Alongside those lists are photos of missing people and those who have died.ABC News has spoken to people at the hospital.Ranjana Poudel's brother-in-law is missing. (ABC News)Ranjana Poudel is trying to find news of her brother-in-law who was at the border when the flood hit."Last time he spoke to his family it was 8:15 and he said he would enter China by 10. But after that we had no contact with him," she told the ABC's South Asia correspondent Rachel Clayton.Preksha KC is volunteering to help people find their relatives, even though her uncle is missing.Preksha KC is volunteering at the hospital. (ABC News)"It is really helpless, hopeless but we are building our confidence to find people with our team and our Nepal Government," she told the ABC.Fri 28 Aug 2026 at 4:50amFri 28 Aug 2026 at 4:50amRed Cross launches $43 million appealThe Red Cross has launched an emergency appeal in response to the devastating flash floods and landslides.The $43 million appeal is seeking to cover the emergency response and later the recovery over the next two years."While we are getting a clearer picture of the scale of devastation, we know that entire villages were washed away and needs will grow in the coming hours and days," IFRC secretary general Jagan Chapagain said."Communities that have lost homes and livelihoods will need sustained support as they recover and rebuild."The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said it believed about 93,000 people may have been affected by the disaster."The remoteness of the affected areas, combined with damaged infrastructure, is making it harder both to assess the full scale of the disaster and to deliver assistance to people who need it most."Fri 28 Aug 2026 at 4:35amFri 28 Aug 2026 at 4:35amNepali rescue workers fear second floodEarlier we brought you the latest from authorities in both Nepal and China about the risk of a second flood due to barrier lakes that had formed high up in the Himalayas as a result of the disaster.Reuters is reporting that a warning from the Chinese water resources ministry has caused some rescue workers to begin moving towards higher ground."The volume of water is continuing to increase, and so is the risk," Zhu Jinfeng, a researcher at the water resources ministry's hydrology department, told Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.Among the emergency workers to move to higher ground was Pawan Koirala, who began moving away from the river bed along with his team of 13 after the warning was issued."We are here for rescue and don't want to be near the danger zone," he said.Fri 28 Aug 2026 at 4:14amFri 28 Aug 2026 at 4:14amSacred site pilgrims caught up in disasterMany of those caught up in the disaster were devotees on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, a sacred site in the Himalayas.Mount Kailash is a Himalayan peak in southwestern Tibet, near China’s borders with Nepal and India.It rises more than 6,400 metres above sea level and lies close to Lake Manasarovar. Both have long been part of Sanskrit religious and literary traditions.Mount Kailash holds sacred significance for Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and the Tibetan Bon tradition.Each associates the mountain with different beliefs and sacred histories.Police are searching destroyed communities looking for survivors. (AP: Niranjan Shrestha)The missing include at least 178 people from India, most of whom were believed to be on the pilgrimage. The missing also includes people from US, Australia, Britain and Canada.Indian spiritual guru Jaggi Vasudev, also known as Sadhguru, said in a post on X that 77 people returning from the mountain with groups organized by his Isha Foundation were at an immigration center in Gyirong, Tibet, when the floods struck.Reporting by APFri 28 Aug 2026 at 3:29amFri 28 Aug 2026 at 3:29amDeath toll sits at 392Just in the last hour, Nepal Police say the death toll on their side of the border stands at 389.Adding that to the three deaths that have been reported in Tibet, and the current total death toll from the flood now sits at 392.A further 466 people are reported as injured, Nepal Police say.There has been no update on the 35 Australians currently missing after the floods which unfolded on Wednesday.Fri 28 Aug 2026 at 3:12amFri 28 Aug 2026 at 3:12amFocus turns to second possible floodThe big concern going into today is the possibility of a second flood along the same river.Two barrier lakes have been formed as a result of Wednesday's disaster, one in Nepal and one in China.The worry, according to officials in both countries, is that either or both are expected to continue filling with water and then overflow, leading to a second debris flow down the same river, and through the same disaster-hit communities.Nepal's disaster authority issued a notice on Thursday warning that a lake formed by debris blocking a river at the flood site is rising and at risk of bursting.Meanwhile, China is warning that 3 million cubic metres of water are expected to flow into an already dammed lake on its side of the border within the next three days.There's also further rainfall forecast, according to Chinese state media, and this is what the lake looks like as of Thursday, according to Chinese state broadcaster Xinhua.Chinese state media reports this lake could burst its banks in the next three days. (Li Jian/Xinhua via AFP)Fri 28 Aug 2026 at 3:03amFri 28 Aug 2026 at 3:03amWelcome to our blog on the Himalayan flood disasterThanks for joining.We are coming online to bring you the latest developments from the disaster zone through Friday, as well as reaction from Australia and around the globe.