The death toll from the flash flood and landslides in Nepal and Tibet has risen to 750. Of these, 734 died in Nepal and 16 in Tibet.
At a press conference Saturday evening, Nepali authorities said a further 3,044 people remain missing.
Meanwhile, rescuers have moved to relatively higher ground as river water levels rose because of rain. Several rounds of rescue operations have been suspended since Friday because of bad weather and concern over a lake formed after a mudslide on the Nepal-China border.
The lake was created after a glacier collapse last Wednesday, when rock, soil and mud blocked the river’s course. Since Friday, water has begun spilling over from the lake into Nepal’s rivers, raising fears it could trigger a fresh flash flood.
According to the Red Cross, more than 90,000 people may have been affected by the disaster. China has blamed the impact of climate change for the disaster.
In Nepal, 2,498 people remain missing. The country’s disaster management authority said 7,514 people have been rescued.
In China’s Tibet, officials confirmed 16 deaths in Gyirong County as of Saturday evening and said 546 people remain missing, according to a press conference held by Tibetan authorities.
China’s state broadcaster CCTV said the missing foreigners in Tibet include 105 Nepalis, 49 Indians, 33 Latvians, 18 Americans, 15 Britons, six each from Canada and Australia, four South Africans, and three each from Malaysia, Germany and Russia.
Also missing are two each from France, Estonia, Ireland, the Netherlands and New Zealand, and one each from Finland, Lithuania, Portugal, Ukraine, Spain and Hungary. This marks the first time China has released this breakdown of missing foreign nationals by country.
The deadly disaster struck last Wednesday. A section of glacier collapsed on the Tibet-Nepal border, sending a powerful surge of mud, water and rock down the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers. Various structures, villages and settlements were destroyed within moments.