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Aussie Drone Teams Arrive in Disaster-Stricken Nepal
The 15-member team brings specialist drones and joins Australia’s $11 million humanitarian response as families seek answers for 36 missing Australians.
A 15-member Australian drone team from New South Wales and Queensland landed in Kathmandu late Friday night, the first dedicated rescue personnel to arrive in Nepal following the Nepalese government's request for assistance.
On August 26, a glacier collapse near the Tibet-Nepal border triggered an inland tidal wave that devastated towns and valleys across the region. Official figures released Friday show the death toll in Nepal nearing 1,300 with almost 4,800 people missing, including 601 foreign nationals.
Chief Superintendent Jeremy Stubbs noted the team includes personnel with experience from the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and Japanese tsunami, equipped with hand-held drones for navigating damaged homes and larger units conducting 'broad area assessment' for mapping.
Ambassador Simon Ernst said authorities maintain hope of finding the 36 unaccounted Australians alive, though DFAT declined to publicly provide names of two citizens removed from the missing list Friday, citing privacy constraints.
Saturday's coordination meeting with Nepalese counterparts will determine deployment locations, joined by Australian Federal Police victim identification officers, as Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed searches are underway at The Kailash Hotel and Royal Himalaya Hotel.