In brief
- Community leaders say families are united in grief as the search for survivors continues.
- Fundraising and vigils are helping support those impacted by the devastating floods.
Telecommunication data is being provided to Nepali authorities to help narrow down the last known locations of Australians missing after catastrophic floods.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said concerns deepen every day for the 38 Australians still unaccounted for, as the total death toll surpasses 1200.
Nepali rescue teams are expected to search in locations where many Australians are believed to have been staying, Ms Wong said during a press conference on Thursday.
The dozens of Australians are among 4200 people missing after a glacier collapse near Nepal's border with China triggered devastating floods across towns and valleys.
"I can indicate that after our inquiries that Nepali authorities have advised us that searches are being conducted in the locations identified by Australia, including [The Kailash Hotel] and the Royal Himalaya Hotel amongst others," Ms Wong said.
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"In both areas, army personnel are conducting searches on foot with helicopter and drone support."
Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed on Thursday that a team of specialist drone operators are being deployed to help with the effort.
The 15-person team will include members of state fire and rescue departments and will use advanced technology to provide rapid mapping and imaging.
There remains no change in the number of missing Australians. Six citizens have been confirmed safe since the disaster last Wednesday.
"Australian officials are working closely with authorities in Nepal and China to support efforts to establish their whereabouts and provide assistance to their families," Wong said.
"The conditions facing search and recovery teams remain extremely challenging.
"Communications are difficult, infrastructure has been destroyed and many areas are still difficult to reach."
Aid supplies aboard a Royal Australian Air Force plane arrived in Kathmandu on Wednesday, carrying humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
More than 1,400 hygiene kits, 2,200 solar lights and phone chargers were among the items on board.
Australians have donated more than $4 million to the Emergency Action Alliance to support recovery efforts.
The federal government will provide an additional $3 million to match public donations, bringing the ongoing humanitarian support package to $11 million.
Grieving community members in Australia continue to cling to hope their loved ones are safe.
"Lots of people are stuck in the tunnels over there as well, and most don't have any contact ... we are still hopeful that maybe we can get good news," Non-Resident Nepali Association Victoria co-ordinator Mahadev Dhanuk told the Australian Associated Press (AAP).
The tight-knit Victorian Nepali community of less than 30,000 is wrapping its arms around those affected by the tragedy, with hundreds uniting at a candlelight vigil in memory of the victims in Melbourne on Monday.
"Many are not personally affected, but culturally we feel like one family. That's why everyone is devastated," Dhanuk said.
"All of the community is trying to overcome their own plight and trying to help and think how can we stand with Nepal?"
Australian families holding onto hope
On the Sunshine Coast, community members are "doing everything they can" to rally around loved ones of missing disability support worker Renee Spry.
The Queensland mother of twin daughters was returning from the religious Mount Kailash pilgrimage, at an immigration centre near the Nepal-Tibet border, minutes before the catastrophic flood swept through the area.
"Every time we hear news of another person being found alive is a moment of extraordinary joy and relief," Sunshine Coast-based Opposition foreign affairs spokesperson Ted O'Brien told AAP.
"We all, of course, on the Sunshine Coast then turn our minds to Renee and it is with hope that we think of her predicament."
The family of another missing Australian, Luke Costanzo, released a statement on Tuesday about the "unimaginably difficult situation" confronting them.
Like Spry, the 30-year-old had been visiting Tibet's Mount Kailash on a pilgrimage trek with the non-profit Isha Foundation.
"We can do nothing but continue hoping for a miracle that Luke, and the others who remain missing, are found alive and well," Costanzo's family said.
The bodies of the flood victims have begun to be buried in mass graves in Kathmandu after DNA samples were taken.
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