Sydney dad Simon Wilde and teenage daughter Sophie missing in Nepal after deadly storms

A SYDNEY father whose son and granddaughter are missing after last week’s blizzard in Nepal is hopeful they are fine and unaware of the tragedy.

Facebook image Sophie Wilde, and her father Simon Wilde. The pair are believed to still be missing in Nepal following massive avalanches. Picture: Facebook

THE families of dozens of Australians still unaccounted for while trekking in Nepal face an agonising wait for contact with loved ones as the death toll from last week’s blizzard reached 40.

Nepalese authorities have closed a section of the popular Annapurna ­Circuit trekking route in the Himalayas after rescuers — overwhelmed with last week’s snowstorms — had to save new hikers who set out on the same deadly trails after the blizzards cleared.

Sophie Wilde and her father Simon are believed to still be missing in Nepal following massive avalanches. Picture: Facebook

The Australian consular emergency centre has been flooded with more than 500 calls from worried families chasing information about relatives travelling in northern Nepal, where internet and ­mobile phone service is patchy at best.

A Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman said Australian embassy ­officials in Kathmandu were working with the Nepalese Army, consular authorities and trek organisers following the deadly blizzard on October 14.

A Nepalese Army helicopter rescues survivors of a snowstorm in Manang District, along the Annapurna Circuit Trek. Picture: AP Photo/Nepalese Army

‘‘A number of foreigners, including Australians, have been rescued and ­embassy and DFAT consular staff are continuing to seek information about the welfare and whereabouts of Australians in the area,” the spokesman said.

‘‘Nepalese authorities continue to ­advise there are no reports of Australian casualties, so far.’’

Twelve more bodies were found on Sunday as Nepalese rescue teams using helicopters scoured the route around the Annapurna mountain, the world’s 10th highest peak, with almost 500 people including 292 foreigners, rescued since operations began last week.

Sophie Wilde and her father Simon are believed to still be missing in Nepal following massive avalanches last week. Picture: Facebook

At least two Australians were among 34 trekkers plucked from trails near Mustang, Manang and Dolpa according to a local police official, who said these included 17 Nepalese, 10 Germans and five Swedes.

Among the missing are Sydney ­father Simon Wilde and his 17-year-old daughter Sophie, who have not been heard from since booking flights to Kathmandu from India on October 7.

A Nepalese army soldier searches for avalanche victims at Thorong La pass area in Nepal on Sunday. (AP Photo/Nepalese Army)

The pair were booked to fly out of Kathmandu on October 25 for Sophie to start her HSC year at Newtown ­Performing Arts High School.

Simon’s father Patrick Wilde said the pair had allowed 18 days, which was ‘‘more consistent’’ with them heading to the mountains near Dolpa — a less ­travelled area — than trying the 160-230km long Annapurna Circuit that has been popular with backpackers since it opened to foreigners in 1977.

“We don’t know whether they’ve ­actually been on the Annapurna Circuit or at Dolpa,’’ he said.