Live: Rescuers in Nepal race to reach workers stuck in hydropower tunnels
Rescue efforts in Nepal have increasingly focused on five hydropower projects inundated by the floods, including the Upper Trishuli complex, where up to 350 people could be trapped. Follow live.
Recap
Here is a summary of today's events:
The number of Australians unaccounted-for has risen to 43, according to Assistant Foreign Minister Matt Thistlewaite
The Australian government has announced a further $3 million in humanitarian assistance
Tunnel rescue efforts have "intensified" at the Trishuli-3A hydropower site in Nuwakot
The death toll in Nepal has now risen to at least 794, according to police
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Mon 31 Aug 2026 at 9:07amMon 31 Aug 2026 at 9:07am
'Heart of gold': Partner of missing Australian man pays tribute
New South Wales man Michael Keats, who lives on the South Coast, went missing in Nepal after embarking on a pilgrimage to Mt Kailash.
The hiker was believed to be at the immigration centre on the Tibet Nepal border when the flood struck.
(Supplied)Yesterday, his partner Emily Boyd took to social media to pay tribute to his "sweet soul".
"Rest in peace my darling sweetheart," she wrote.
"After loosing this sweet soul to the Nepal floods life has turned up side down.
She described him as a teacher, leader and beloved friend who showed up for so many people.
"A heart of pure gold. We love you forever and always."
Mon 31 Aug 2026 at 8:50amMon 31 Aug 2026 at 8:50am
Husband of missing Australian 'helpless' without China's co-operation
By Daniela Pizzirani
Bhavin Patel's wife Reshma was part of the Isha Foundation group, and he has flown from New South Wales to Nepal to search for her.
He believes she is alive and has said the family is "desperately seeking assistance" to find her.
"I just want some help to bring Reshma back home," he told the ABC.
Mr Patel has checked her phone signal data and said it shows a connection in Tibet in the hours after the flood.
Chinese state media yesterday reported six Australians are among the 261 foreign nationals unaccounted-for on the Chinese side of the border.
Mr Patel is hoping satellite technology combined with his wife's phone data could assist in the search, but he said better coordination between China, Nepal and Australia was urgently needed.
"We are ready to share [the phone data]," he said.
"The Chinese government has got their own technology, so we try to get something from there, but we're not able to get anything from there."
Mr Patel said he felt "helpless" and wanted Australia to do more.
He has visited hospitals in Kathmandu, scanning lists of survivors, as well as meeting with the Isha Foundation and embassy officials.
You can read more from North Asia correspondent Natalie Whiting in Kathmandu and Meghna Bali here.
Mon 31 Aug 2026 at 8:33amMon 31 Aug 2026 at 8:33am
📸People return to remains of their homes
By Hanan Dervisevic
Mon 31 Aug 2026 at 8:16amMon 31 Aug 2026 at 8:16am
Australian engineer says the front of one hydropower tunnel found
By Hanan Dervisevic
Australian engineer Professor Arnold Dix is providing assistance to Nepal from his Melbourne office.
His role is to help identify where to begin digging at the hydropower stations to try to access the hundreds of people who are trapped.
"From home, I'm using satellite imagery and drawings to find the power stations and then deciding where to start digging to try and get down into the tunnels," Dix told ABC News Breakfast.
"The power station that I'm looking at, maybe my power station has somewhere between 50-100 people inside it — I'll say 50 — but we don't know."
Despite the difficulty on the ground, Dix says there has been "great" progress early this morning with the front of one of the tunnels now found.
"So now what I'm doing is helping design how we tunnel inside a tunnel to see if we can get up to where the powerhouse is, to hopefully find people who are alive."
While the engineer has a bag packed ready to go if he needs to head to Nepal, he says he is "really proud as an Australian to be asked by the government to help".
Key Event
Mon 31 Aug 2026 at 8:00amMon 31 Aug 2026 at 8:00am
Tunnel rescue efforts 'intensified' at Trishuli-3A hydropower site
By Hanan Dervisevic
The prime minister's office in Nepal says tunnel rescue efforts have been "intensified" at the Trishuli-3A hydropower site located in Nuwakot, including "blasting operations".
Writing on X, it says a 2x3ft hole (0.6x0.9m) was created in the crown of the tunnel earlier, with rescuers descending on ropes.
They "received no response from inside" when they called out.
Operations have continued, with the team "working tirelessly around the clock" despite "difficult and risky conditions".
Of the more than 2,500 missing people, hundreds are believed to be workers in Nepal's hydropower sites.
Mon 31 Aug 2026 at 7:45amMon 31 Aug 2026 at 7:45am
Families concerned for Australians missing after floods
By Daniela Pizzirani
Family members desperate for answers are appealing for more information from Chinese authorities.
Many of the 43 Australians missing after the disaster were pilgrims trekking from Nepal into Tibet to visit Mount Kailash.
Thousands of people visit the Himalayan peak each year, and multiple tour groups have reported people missing in the disaster.
One group of 80, including 11 Australians, had just finished the spiritual journey when the floods swept through the region.
The leader of the Isha Foundation tour sent a text message at 9:05am saying they had arrived at the immigration post to cross back from Tibet into Nepal.
Ten minutes later, a wall of water, ice and debris triggered by a glacial collapse swept through the valley.
"The immigration office complex has been completely washed away," a spokesperson for the Isha Foundation said.
It is not clear how many people from the tour had officially passed through the checkpoint.
You can read more from North Asia correspondent Natalie Whiting in Kathmandu and Meghna Bali below.
Key Event
Mon 31 Aug 2026 at 7:28amMon 31 Aug 2026 at 7:28am
Australia commits a further $3m in humanitarian assistance
By Hanan Dervisevic
Yesterday, the Australian government announced a further $3 million in humanitarian assistance to go to Nepal.
Assistant Foreign Minister Matt Thistlewaite says this funding will mostly go to supplying hygiene kits.
"There's a desperate need for these kits for people in the region and also solar lights," he says.
"Obviously all of the power and telecommunications infrastructure has been wiped out.
"So those kits are being put together, they'll be transported by the Australian Defence Force over the coming days."
The additional funding announced now brings the government's humanitarian support for the disaster to $8 million.
Mon 31 Aug 2026 at 7:17amMon 31 Aug 2026 at 7:17am
Rescuers race to reach hundreds trapped in Nepal tunnels
By Daniela Pizzirani
(Reuters: Supplied)About 10,000 Nepali troops have been deployed alongside specialist teams from China and India to find survivors trapped in tunnels in Nepal.
Nepal's Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Mahabir Pun said there were several hydro-power stations which were under construction and had been blocked.
"We're working very hard and [with] the support that the Chinese government sent yesterday and today will be very helpful to open up the entrance of the tunnel, because there are many people who have been trapped there," he said.
Nepal's military airlifted heavy machinery to the remote site on Sunday and rescuers reached the entrance of one tunnel, beginning to clear debris blocking access.
Authorities said teams carrying oxygen supplies and cameras would enter once access was secured.
Lok Bahadur Chhetri, a spokesperson for Nepal's foreign ministry, said Nepal required international assistance in specialised areas, including tunnel rescue operations, DNA testing, refrigerated storage for bodies and forensic identification of decomposed remains.
Key Event
Mon 31 Aug 2026 at 7:06amMon 31 Aug 2026 at 7:06am
Number of Australians unaccounted-for rises
By Hanan Dervisevic
The number of Australians unaccounted-for in the Nepal-Tibet flood disaster has risen to 43, according to Assistant Foreign Minister Matt Thistlewaite.
"We haven't given up hope that we can rescue those Australians safe and well," Thistlewaite says on ABC News Breakfast.
"We've got 12 additional consular staff that we've sent to the region to assist our post on the ground there to try and recover those Australians as quickly as possible.
"We're doing everything we can, working around the clock to try and locate those missing Australians."
Mon 31 Aug 2026 at 6:59amMon 31 Aug 2026 at 6:59am
Welcome to our live blog
By Daniela Pizzirani
Good morning. We're continuing our live coverage of the aftermath of Wednesday's devastating floods in Nepal and Tibet.
Rescuers in Nepal are racing to reach workers stuck in tunnels after flooding trapped them inside.
The search efforts include five hydropower projects, including the Upper Trishuli complex, where authorities said on Friday they received information that around 350 people could be trapped inside a tunnel.
The death toll in Nepal has now risen to at least 794, according to the latest figures released by the Nepal Police, while over 2,400 people are still thought to be missing.