Death toll from Nepal-Tibet flash floods rises to 797

The death toll in Nepal and Tibet from last week's catastrophic floods has hit 797 with more than 3,000 missing, authorities said, while rescuers moved to higher ground as rain swelled river levels.

Rescue operations have been suspended several times since Friday because of bad weather and concerns that a lake formed across the Nepal-Tibet border by a mudslide from Wednesday's glacier collapse could trigger fresh flooding after it began overflowing into rivers in Nepal.

At least 781 people died in Nepal, its disaster authority said, with 2,502 people missing as rescue efforts continued for a fifth day.

Chinese state media earlier confirmed 16 dead in Tibet and 546 people missing following the disaster, taking the overall toll to 797 dead and 3,048 unaccounted for.

The Red Cross estimates that more than 90,000 people are likely to have been affected by the disaster, which China has linked to the effects of climate change.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Nepalese counterpart in a telephone call yesterday that the mudslide was their "most severe cross-border disaster" in recent years and that rescue operations were of unprecedented difficulty and complexity, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Nepal's rescue effort is now focused on hundreds of people believed to be trapped in tunnels at hydropower plants after a torrent of ice, rock, mud and debris crashed down Himalayan rivers.

Among the 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries missing on the Tibetan side were 104 from Nepal, 49 from neighbouring India, as well as 33 Latvians, 18 Americans and 15 Britons, they said in China's first breakdown by nationality.

Two Irish citizens, who have been named by the Nepalese Tourism Department as 46-year-old Santosh Sahu and 18-year-old Spandan Sahu, are among those missing.

Beijing and Kathmandu are working together to identify missing citizens and foreign nationals, as well as strengthening cooperation in disaster prevention and mitigation, and climate-change response, CCTV said.

Water levels in the Trishuli River have risen after fresh rain, prompting residents and rescue workers to seek higher ground, Nepalese police told Reuters.

Nepal says it does not need foreign help for general rescue, but Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lok Bahadur Chhetri said the country needed assistance in such areas as tunnel rescue, DNA testing, refrigerated storage for bodies and forensic identification of decomposed remains.

Indian and Chinese experts are on the ground helping efforts to open tunnels, Chhetri said.

The lake that had formed upstream and threatened rescue operations had largely drained by yesterday evening, CCTV said. However drones detected a landslide late on Saturday 2.8 km downstream of the lake, forming a new dam and a fresh pool of water, CCTV said.

The authorities relocated rescue personnel near the Gyirong border crossing to safety, the broadcaster said.

Link to 'long-term effects of climate change'

The flood was "caused by glacier instability under the long-term effects of global warming", CCTV reported, saying it was a "new and prominent feature of cryosphere disasters" on the Tibetan plateau.

The mudslide from the Nepalese side took six to seven minutes to reach the Gyirong border crossing, CCTV said, citing the findings of Chinese scientists.

Dramatic surveillance footage shared worldwide showed torrents of water and debris engulfing buildings while people tried to flee.

China has mobilised over 2,100 rescue workers and allocated at least 220 million yuan (€28.2m) to support relief efforts. It is also providing emergency cash aid, disaster relief supplies, satellite and hydrological data and tunnel rescue experts to Nepal, CCTV said.

China used heavy-lift drones as helicopters began airdropping equipment and supplies to frontline rescuers near the border crossing. Soldiers have used life-detection equipment, drones and a navigation system to continue searching for those still missing.

Read more: Hope and horror: Families in Nepal await news of missing