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Please don’t rearrange our shoes when we turn up, paramedics in Japan urge

Etiquette, manners and consideration for others are integral pillars of Japanese society but there are times when they might go a step too far, according to one city’s emergency services. The fire department in the central city of Kanazawa has urged people not to tidy up the shoes that paramedic crews have taken off when entering a house, warning it could hinder their ability to get in or out quickly, particularly when carrying someone on a stretcher. In an Instagram video that has amassed more than half a million views since it was posted on 5 August, the firefighters demonstrate how paramedics leave their shoes positioned at entrances in precise spots so that three stretcher bearers can step straight into them without shaking the patient around, or risking dislodging their oxygen mask. It is customary for anyone entering a Japanese home to shed their footwear, and for homeowners to rearrange the shoes of guests or customers to face the doorway so that they can slip them on easily when they leave. Interviewed by TBS News Dig this week, firefighter Daisuke Yamashita said, “Emergency crews decide the direction of their shoes according to their roles, so if someone changes their position out of kindness, it can interfere with putting them back on and delay the transport of the patient. From our experience, it can result in a loss of about 30 seconds. “We do appreciate the kindness behind straightening the shoes,” added Yamashita in the video. “During an emergency, it is extremely helpful if people instead prepare the patient’s My Number card [a social security number] or another form of identification in advance.” Most of the comments underneath the video expressed gratitude at the advice. “I didn’t know this. I will remember this for the future!” wrote one. Another user attracted more than 800 likes for suggesting that strict etiquette could perhaps be forsaken at such times: “It’s an emergency. I would just tell them: ‘Please step inside with your shoes on!’”

Nepal-Tibet flash flood live updates: China halts rescue at epicentre over flood risk, state media reports; death toll at 469, say Nepali police

Here are some of the latest images coming in amid the Nepal-Tibet border devastation as rescuers continue to search for more than 1,300 people missing, including hundreds of tourists and pilgrims.

How Nepali diaspora is responding to flood disaster and how Australians can help in relief effort

Australia’s Nepali community plan to host vigils to remember the victims of the Nepal-Tibet flood disaster to coincide with a day of mourning, as the number of people killed continues to rise. As Australia’s Nepali diaspora wait for the full scale of the disaster to become clear, community members are desperately waiting to hear from missing relatives and friends. Nepal police said on Friday that the death toll had risen to 469, with more than 1,300 people still missing, after massive flash floods and landslides tore through the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli river basins on Thursday. The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, on Friday morning confirmed the number of Australians missing in the floods had increased to 39 as she unveiled a $5m support package. Wong told the ABC that Australians who wished to donate could do so via the Emergency Action Alliance website – a group of Australian charities and humanitarian organisations. Nepali Australians gathered for candlelight prayers on Thursday night and held a minute’s silence for those lost to the floods. Dr Tilak Pokhrel, president of the Australian Nepalese Multicultural Centre (ANMC), said community organisations in Victoria would host a vigil when the Nepali government announced an upcoming national day of mourning. “Community members just want to say we are with you for those who are affected,” he said. “We want to have an event where we all can gather and show our solidarity to support them. “Let’s work together, let’s pray together, and let’s go through this pain together.” Pokhrel said the centre would extend its opening hours for the next few days so faith leaders could provide support. “People are waiting for the news. They are checking the news every hour,” he said. Chudamani Sapkota, the general secretary of Non-Resident Nepali Association, said its New South Wales branch would host a candlelight vigil on Saturday evening in Sydney. “This is devastating news for all the Nepalese diaspora,” he said. Sapkota said the organisation was trying to support Nepali Australians locate their missing relatives. “There’s no network, nothing at the moment,” he said. “This is a very tough time.” Tenzin Khangsar, co-chair of the Australia Tibet Council, said the Tibetan community was “shocked and devastated” about the flooding. He said prayer events would be planned to commemorate the victims. Diaspora community organisations are also crowdfunding for the Nepali government’s disaster relief fund. Chiran Tiwari, president of the Nepalese Welfare Society based in Sydney, said the organisation had created a GoFundMe page to raise money for the Nepali Prime Minister’s Natural Disaster Relief Fund. Tiwari said one of the welfare society’s executive member’s relatives were missing in Nepal, with the community rallying around to provide support to them. “The situation is very sad for the community,” he said. “Everyone’s eyes is tearing so the situation is very difficult.” On Thursday night, the ANMC hosted a candlelight multi-faith prayer night in Melbourne for people grieving the disaster.

Race to get aid into Nepal and Tibet amid warnings flood lake could burst

The international community was scrambling to get aid into flood-stricken parts of Nepal and Tibet on Thursday as authorities warned that a lake ⁠formed at the ⁠site ⁠where the deadly torrents occurred ⁠was rising and ⁠at risk of ‌bursting. The catastrophic flash floods that hit Nepal and Tibet on Wednesday, thundering down valleys and obliterating entire villages, killed at least 469 people and left more than 1,300 missing. Efforts to locate those unaccounted for – including hundreds of tourists from India, the US, Britain, Australia and Canada – have been complicated by the destruction of dozens of bridges and 25 miles (40km) of roads in the mountainous region, which is popular with trekkers and pilgrims. Nepali army helicopter rescue teams were working on Friday to rescue about 100 people trapped inside a tunnel at a hydropower project swamped by the devastating flood. “Our focus is in search and rescue of people … some people are trapped in the tunnel of Trishuli 3A hydropower project,” said Nepal army spokesman Raja Ram Basnet. “Two helicopters have been dispatched but it is challenging because it is tough to even locate the entry points of the tunnel. Relief efforts are also under way to provide the rescued people what they need.” The prime minister’s office said the army was working in tough conditions and had already rescued 350 workers and local people who were trapped in the tunnel amid the risky conditions. Rescue teams reported finding bodies hundreds of miles downstream from the disaster zone in the Chitwan district of Nepal, near the Tibetan border. Dozens of injured people were transported to Kathmandu for advanced medical care and more than 100 people were rescued by Nepali army personnel in helicopters. Videos from Wednesday showed a massive wall of water crashing down on the border as people tried to flee. The power, volume and speed of the floods gave little time for escape. Trucks were overturned and houses, roads ⁠and power plants were swept away in Nepal, while officials in Tibet said they feared “major casualties” after a mudslide hit a border crossing. Tom Fletcher, the UN’s humanitarian chief, described the flood as “horrifying”. He said emergency teams had been mobilised and an initial $2m (£1.5m) of disaster funds allocated to cover emergency medical care, shelter and water. Nepal’s disaster authority warned of continuing danger on Thursday, appealing to residents and rescuers to stay away from a swelling lake that had formed at the flood site. Chinese authorities said a barrier lake at the confluence of the Tsogyal and Purupqiangzangbu rivers was overflowing and could burst. Girilal Budhathoki, 36, who lives in the Rasuwa district of Nepal’s Bagmati province, said the flood waters swept away his wife and four children while he was away from the family home. “A huge surge of water came,” he said. “Everything turned completely black, and I couldn’t understand what was happening. Suddenly, something heavy crushed me and I fell down.” Budhathoki realised what had happened only when he returned to the place where his house had stood. “I searched desperately for my wife and children but I couldn’t find them,” he said. “They didn’t make it out. My wife was swept away too. I am all alone now.” Kamal Kharel, who works at a hydropower plant in Chilime, also in Rasuwa district, was in the office when the floods hit. “The whole place shook as if there had been a huge earthquake,” he said. “But when I went outside, I saw everything a storm and raging water.” Kharel and some of his colleagues managed to climb a hill, where they stayed until they were rescued by the army on Thursday morning. “I had never seen waves crashing that high. You only see waves like that in the sea.” People from the hard-hit districts of Nuwakot and Dhading, in Bagmati province, were seen gathering outside an army training centre – the base for helicopter rescue operations – seeking information about missing family members. Police were recording the names of the missing outside the barracks gate. Mobile phone torches were their only source of light as the area remained without electricity because of damaged hydroelectric infrastructure. The village of Soley, in Nuwakot, which had about 25 homes, was almost wiped out, according to Nirajan Paudyal, a Kathmandu-based journalist whose parents and other relatives lived there. Desperate for information, he had travelled to the area on Thursday for news of his family. “There is no update till now,” he said. “I fear there won’t be any update.” More than 500 foreigners were among 826 people missing in Nepal, police and tourism ⁠officials said. Among those unaccounted for were 177 from India, 90 from the US, 34 from Australia, 33 from Britain and 25 from Canada. Chinese state media said at least 558 were missing on the Tibet side of the border, of whom at least 260 were foreign nationals. Many of the victims were on a pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar, a high-altitude site in ‌Tibet revered by Hindus and Buddhists among others. Early reports from Nepali officials suggested an earthquake could have caused the lower part of a glacier to collapse and trigger ‌the floods. But the US Geological Survey later said what was initially reported ‌as a 4.4-magnitude earthquake was a seismic shock generated by glacial rock and ice collapsing, causing the flood of debris. “No earthquake had occurred,” it said. Srijana Gurung, the acting Nepal director for the international NGO Plan International, said communities across the Himalayan country were facing “climate shock after shock” with hardly any time to recover. “Floods and landslides have always happened in Nepal but the climate crisis is making them far more frequent and intense,” she said. “The priority now must be reaching those affected, supporting families searching for loved ones and ensuring vulnerable communities have the assistance they need.” Gurung said children and families who had lost their homes and livelihoods would be in urgent need of medical help, food, shelter and hygiene kits. “There is also a risk of waterborne disease as access to clean water and sanitation is likely to have been damaged,” she said. Scant information emerged from Chinese authorities about the scale of the destruction. Tibet is the most tightly controlled part of China even under normal circumstances. Foreign journalists cannot visit the region unless they are part of a government-controlled tour and the authorities have cracked down harshly on calls for greater autonomy from the Tibetan people. Tibetans have almost no contact with the international media because of fears of retribution. Only brief, state-controlled media reports about the floods have been allowed to circulate in China and the authorities have confirmed only three deaths. Chinese reports have focused on rescue efforts. Maya Wang, the deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, wrote on X: “The floods raise questions about whether Chinese authorities could’ve done more to reduce disaster risks, given longstanding concerns from Tibetan diaspora groups and experts about rapid, state-led development in areas where Tibetans have little say.” She called on Beijing to “allow Tibetans access to information and international researchers and journalists unfettered access to the region, and conduct a rigorous investigation into the disaster”.

‘We just want them to return’: relatives of Australians missing in Nepal floods wait anxiously for news of loved ones

The family of two Sydney boys who went missing with their parents in flash flooding in Nepal say they remain hopeful they will be found safe. Shylaja Muralitharan, 42, her husband, Chandrasekaran Muralitharan, 47, and their two sons Ashwin, 14 and Aarush, 11, were taking part in a pilgrimage when the flood hit on Wednesday morning. The family of four are among 39 Australians identified as missing in the region, with the death toll climbing to nearly 400, and about 1,400 people, mostly tourists, yet to be accounted for. Shylaja’s younger sister, Vaishnavi, said that she had lost contact with the family shortly after breakfast on the morning of the flood. They planned to head towards an immigration checkpoint on the Tibet-Nepal border soon after, as part of the group of 15 Australians trekking as part of the Himalayan Glacier Adventures tour. “Just like everyone else that’s part of that group, we’re really worried, but hopeful,” Vaishnavi told the Guardian. “Hopeful that they’re safe and just waiting to be rescued. “It’s a very difficult time for our whole family … I just want to make people aware that they’re there, and we’re waiting, and we just want them to return.” Vaishnavi, who asked that her surname not be published, confirmed the family were close with other members of the group who had also travelled from Sydney for the Hindu pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, in Tibet. The family had been training together for the long walk, she said. “They had been planning for some time, and preparing, because it’s quite a trek. “They were all working very hard together to make sure they could successfully complete it. “We just didn’t expect anything like this.” Vaishnavi said it was difficult to get clear information about what was being done to find those who missing. She has spoken with department of foreign affairs and trade officials. “We do want to know what efforts are being made … we’re not aware of what is actually happening there.” Australian woman Sumi Adhikari was at an immigration office at the Gyirong Post crossing when the flood waters arrived. She was travelling as part of an Isha Foundation pilgrimage to the reigon. Her husband, Nava Pandey, has travelled to Nepal and is desperately seeking information about her whereabouts. “She was in the same area when the flood happened,” said a flyer produced Adhikari’s family, and published with their permission. “If anyone has seen her or has any information about her, please contact the family immediately.” New South Wales couple Venkatraman Balakrishnan, 52, and his wife, Chitra Venkatraman, 46, were also among the 15 Australians travelling to Mount Kailash. So too were Sreedharan and Lakshmi Iyer, and their adult sons Rishab, 23, and Rudhra, 20. The brothers played cricket for 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.” The University of Newcastle’s vice-chancellor, Alex Zelinsky, said Rishab and Rudhra were both medical students the at the university. “We are thinking of them, their families, their fellow students and teaching staff, as well as the many people who have been impacted by this devastating event and we hope that both students can be located soon,” Zelinsky said in a statement. Separate groups of Australians – 11 travelling with Trekkers Society and six with Kailash Journeys – are also unaccounted for. Both tour companies have been contacted for comment. Several other Australians were travelling with other tour groups. It is understood the majority of missing Australians are from New South Wales, but there are also some from Victoria and Queensland. Sagar Pandey, the founder and chief executive of Himalayan Glacier Adventures, said he had lost all contact with his tour group of 47 people, which included the 15 Australians. Pandey told the Guardian on Thursday he had flown by helicopter over the Rasuwa area, where the tour was staying, since the flood and had little hope they survived. “To be honest … you would think there was no human civilisation there at all. “The flash flood swept away everything, everything. You couldn’t see any human creations. “Still, I have a hope, but like 1%; the rest I don’t have a hope, they are missing and missing and missing.” The Isha Foundation confirmed that 11 Australians were among a group of 80 missing pilgrims who had been in an immigration building when the flood hit. The foreign minister, Penny Wong, said on Friday that the Australian government was “rapidly mobilising consular and humanitarian support in response” to the flooding. “We understand at least 39 Australians are among those reported missing. Australian officials are working urgently to confirm their welfare and provide assistance to those affected.” Wong said the government would send an initial team of three humanitarian response specialists “within the next 48 hours’” to help Australian staff already on the ground. “The extraordinary scale of this disaster and the remoteness of the affected region mean immense challenges lie ahead for the response and recovery.”

Number of Australians missing in Nepal floods climbs as Greens criticise Labor’s aid package

Penny Wong has confirmed the number of Australians missing in the devastating Nepal floods has increased from 35 to 39 and announced a $5m support package. “We understand at least 39 Australians are among those reported missing. Australian officials are working urgently to confirm their welfare and provide assistance to those affected,” Wong said in a statement on Friday morning. Anthony Albanese said Australia was sending crisis and humanitarian response specialists to the region to help. “We’re also providing humanitarian assistance including food, emergency shelter and medical support,” the prime minister said in a post to social media on Friday morning. “Our thoughts are with the loved ones of those affected as we urgently work to confirm the welfare of missing Australians.” More than 1,400 people remain missing, and 469 have been confirmed killed after massive flash floods and landslides tore through the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli river basins on the Nepal-Tibet border. Nepal’s disaster agency said 910 people were unaccounted for, including at least 517 foreigners. Across the border with Tibet, China said 558 people – including 260 foreigners – were missing. Together, the total missing on both sides of the border is 1,468. Those figures are likely to fluctuate – both up and down – in coming days as rescue efforts continue and a clearer picture of the devastation emerges. Speaking on ABC radio, Wong said the four additional Australians missing had been travelling separately to the Himalayan Glacier Adventures tour and Kathmandu Holiday Tours and Travel group. She said a further increase in the number of Australians missing was an “unfortunate possibility”. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email “I know this is an extremely distressing time for those who have loved ones unaccounted for and we are thinking of them,” she said. In her earlier statement, Wong also said the government was “rapidly mobilising consular and humanitarian support in response to the catastrophic floods along the Nepal-China border, including through a $5m assistance package for affected communities”. She said the government would send an initial team of three humanitarian response specialists “within the next 48 hours” to help 20 Australian staff already on the ground. “The extraordinary scale of this disaster and the remoteness of the affected region mean immense challenges lie ahead for the response and recovery.” The support package received bipartisan support on Friday morning, with both the opposition leader, Angus Taylor, and Coalition MP Ted O’Brien saying they supported the move. But David Shoebridge, the Greens’ spokesperson on foreign affairs, told RN Breakfast earlier the Australian commitment of $5m for affected communities in Nepal “won’t come close to touching the sides” of the calamity. Shoebridge said the Greens were devastated by the sheer disaster in the region, calling it a genuine global tragedy. “I think Australia needs to step up and really commit to helping rebuild,” he told RN. “This is a country with minimal spare resources. Life is tough in Nepal at most times, but I don’t think $5m comes close to meeting the scale.” Of the $5m Wong said $2m would go to the World Food Programme, $2m to Australian NGOs through the Australian Humanitarian Partnership “to provide support such as emergency shelter, hygiene kits, blankets, medical support and psychosocial support”, and $1m to the Emergency Action Alliance to support locally-led recovery. “Australians wishing to donate should visit the Emergency Action Alliance webpage,” Wong said. Dr Soniya Rijal, a Nepali postdoctoral research associate at the University of Sydney, has expertise on disaster management and community response. She said it was impossible, at this early stage, to know how many people had been impacted by the disaster. “It’s possible the impact could be even more devastating than the 7.5 magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal in 2015,” she said. “I’ve heard people were notifying neighbours to leave before the flooding hit but, because there was no rain leading to the flash floods, many of these warnings weren’t taken seriously. What makes this disaster unusual is that it was so sudden, coming without warning.” Rijal said local knowledge would be critical in finding and rescuing survivors safely. “Nepal is a very collective society and locals will have a better idea of how to locate missing people than those without local knowledge.” King Charles has said he and Queen Camilla were “heartbroken” by the devastating flooding. “We send our most profound sympathy to all those who have so tragically lost their loved ones and we feel deeply for the many families awaiting anxiously the news of friends and relations,” he said in a statement. “Our hearts go out also to the families of all the police and armed forces personnel who lost their lives while carrying out their courageous duty in the service of others.” Overnight, former Australian race discrimination commissioner Chin Tan was among members of the Nepali community who gathered at the Australian Nepalese Multicultural Centre to grieve the disaster. Families gathered for prayers and held a minute’s silence for those lost to the floods, laying candles beside a hand-crafted display of dyed rice reading “pray for Nepal”. “Today, all Australians are Nepalis, because our grief is yours,” Tan said. The diaspora was “united in grief, hope and prayer”, the secretary of the centre, Sudhir Shakya, told the event, held north-west of Melbourne. “Behind every number is a person – a mother, a father, a son, a daughter, a relative, a friend, and someone deeply loved,” he said. Australia’s Nepali diaspora - more than 200,000 people across the country - are planning a series of vigils in coming days. Governments, councils, NGOs, and community organisations have led an outpouring of condolences. Merri-Bek City Council in Melbourne’s northern suburbs is home to the largest Nepali community in Victoria. “Council extends its deepest sympathies to the families, friends and communities of the Australians who have lost their lives, and to everyone affected by this tragic event,” the council said in a statement. “We also acknowledge the profound impact on people across our community with connections to Nepal … and people who are worried about family, friends and loved ones.” Australians in need of emergency consular assistance have been advised to contact the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s consular emergency centre on 1300 555 135, or +61 2 6261 3305 (if calling from overseas). – with AAP

South Korea to re-examine 310,000 missing person cases after fake record scandal

South Korean police will re-examine about 310,000 missing persons cases closed over the past three years, prompted by a scandal in which an officer was arrested on suspicion of falsifying records to close files on two people who were later found dead. The case has drawn national attention, with President Lee Jae Myung ordering an investigation into the police handling of it and telling the force to draw up a reform plan. The interior minister, Yun Hojung, apologised to the public on Wednesday, saying the case had exposed a structural flaw in the way police handle missing persons. The scandal has renewed scrutiny of how South Korea handles missing adults. More than 70,000 were reported missing last year, with 99.7% of cases closed without a full-scale search. Of those, 931 people were found dead. Under Korean law, only children, autistic people, and people with dementia or mental disabilities are formally treated as missing. That status allows police to request phone location data, issue emergency alerts to every phone in the area and match family DNA. Everyone else is classified as a runaway, with none of those tools automatically available. The arrested officer worked on the missing persons team at Jeju Western police station on the southern holiday island. He is accused of closing the file on a 37-year-old woman, Jang Mi-ran, about two and a half hours after her partner reported her missing in mid-May. The officer allegedly told him he had contacted her and that she did not want her location disclosed, but police say they found no record of such a call. Her body was found on Monday in a palm farm about 400 metres from where she had been staying, 104 days after she was last seen. Police have not established a cause of death. The same officer is also accused of closing the case of a man in his 60s on the day his family reported him missing in early July. His body was found on Saturday. Separately, two other people reported missing in Jeju were found dead. The officer has denied wrongdoing, saying he had contacted the two missing people before closing the cases, according to the Jeju Provincial Police Agency. He was arrested this week and faces charges including dereliction of duty and falsifying official electronic records. The review is due to be completed by November, the Yonhap news agency reported, with any cases suspected of improper handling to be reopened. In the past decade, politicians have introduced more than 10 bills to extend search powers to missing adults, but none has passed. Critics say adults should be free to disappear if they choose and warn that police tracking powers would be exploited by creditors chasing debtors and by abusers looking for partners who have fled.

Warning of fresh danger from rising lake water in Nepal – as it happened

We’re closing this page now and moving our live coverage of the Nepal-Tibet disaster to a new blog here. You can also see our fresh rundown of what we know on day three and our latest full report, as well as a visual guide to how the flooding unfolded. Thanks for following along.