Second Australian found after Nepal disaster, ‘grave concerns’ for 42 still missing

A second Australian missing in the Nepal flood disaster has been found safe on the Tibet side of the border, as Foreign Minister Penny Wong expressed “grave concerns” for the 42 citizens still unaccounted for.

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials contacted the person, whom the government has not identified, on Tuesday to offer consular assistance and put them in touch with family members.

“It’s hard to imagine the sense of relief their loved ones must be feeling after what will have been an incredibly harrowing few days,” Wong said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.

“Despite this second piece of welcome news in recent days, we must remain realistic about the days ahead.”

Another Australian, Cara Severino, 26, contacted her parents on Friday after two days hiking through the devastated area. She was located by consular officials in Nepal on Saturday , who drove out from Kathmandu to meet her.

Wong said more than 4000 people remained missing after last Wednesday’s flash flood, and that search and recovery teams faced extremely challenging conditions.

“Communications remain difficult, infrastructure has been destroyed, and many areas are still difficult to reach. As each day passes, our grave concerns for those still unaccounted for inevitably grow.”

Chinese authorities have previously said six Australians were missing on the Tibet side of the border.

Earlier on Tuesday, Wong was unable to confirm whether NSW hiker Michael Keats had died in the tragedy after his partner identified him on Monday as the first Australian victim .

Wong said she respected the family’s right to make statements about his wellbeing, but noted the government had yet to receive confirmation from the Nepali authorities. Keats remains among the 42 Australians about whom the government is seeking information.

Wong, who is acting prime minister, said the government was doing everything it could to get information out of the remote and mountainous region.

“We’ve been working around the clock to gain information, to provide support, to work to ascertain any information about the Australians who are missing. We’ve deployed additional Australian personnel to Nepal. We’ve engaged with China and with Nepal, both at foreign minister level, but also regularly at official level,” she said at a press conference in Canberra.

“I’m also realistic about this. When you have the thousands of people missing that you have, and you’ve seen yourselves the difficulty, the challenge Nepali authorities have in identifying who is missing and identifying who is deceased. Obviously, official confirmation is challenging at this time”.

More than 1000 people have died and at least 4471 are missing in Nepal and China after a glacial collapse unleashed floods and debris across the border region, with rescue teams struggling to reach isolated communities.