Australian pilgrims missing in Nepal floods after Himalayan Glacier and Isha Foundation tours

1. Himalayan Glacier Adventures group

Fifteen of the missing Australians were on a pilgrimage with the Himalayan Glacier tour group to Mount Kailash in Tibet, which is a sacred site for Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and the Bon faith. All but one in the group are Sydney-based members of the Australia Bharatha Brahmin Samaj community.

Among those unaccounted for are NSW couple Venkatraman Balakrishnan, 52, and Chitra Venkatraman, 46, as well as Sreedharan and Lakshmi Iyer, and their adult sons Rishab, 23, and Rudhra, 20. The Iyer brothers are medical students at the University of Newcastle and members of the West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook cricket club in Sydney’s north-west.

“WPHCCC is aware of the reports that two of our players, Rishab and Rudhra Iyer, along with their family members and other Australians, are unaccounted for in the ongoing floods in Nepal,” the club said in a statement.

“We continue to live in hope, and our thoughts are currently with them, their loved ones and all affected by this tragedy in Nepal.”

Also in the group is a family of four: Shylaja Muralitharan, 42, her husband, Chandrasekaran Muralitharan, 47, and their sons Ashwin, 14, and Aarush, 11. Shylaja’s sister, Vaishnavi, said she had lost contact with the family on the morning of the flood as the family prepared to cross an immigration checkpoint at the Tibet-Nepal border.

“Just like everyone else that’s part of that group, we’re really worried, but hopeful,” Vaishnavi said. “Hopeful that they’re safe and just waiting to be rescued.

“It’s a very difficult time for our whole family.”

Sagar Pandey, founder and chief executive of Himalayan Glacier Adventures, said he had lost all contact with his tour group of 47 people.

Pandey said on Thursday he had flown by helicopter over the Rasuwa area where the group was staying and had little hope they survived.

4. Isha Foundation

A group of 11 Australians remain missing after travelling with an Isha Foundation pilgrimage.

The foundation confirmed that 11 Australians among a group of 80 missing pilgrims, were inside an immigration building at the Gyirong border crossing when the flood hit.

Among them, Guardian Australia has confirmed, is missing Australian woman Sumi Adhikari. Her husband, Nava Pandey, has travelled to Nepal seeking information about her whereabouts.

“We still have no clear or official information about Sumi or the other members of her group,” Pandey said on Saturday morning.

Also missing is 42-year-old Australian man Bharat Mangwani, who was travelling with the Isha Foundation as part of a pilgrimage to Lake Manasarovar when his family lost contact with him on Wednesday morning. He was last seen at Gyirong before the group was set to depart for Kathmandu.

“All of us are praying for him and hopefully he comes back to us soon,” close friend Kushagra Tiwari said. Mangwani’s family, including his nine-year-old son and three-year-old daughter, have travelled to India with a family friend, while his wife has travelled to Nepal to search.