Nepal-Tibet floods: death toll rises to ۶۲۶ and number missing climbs to nearly ۳,۰۰۰ – latest updates

India said it is increasing surveillance of glaciers and glacial lakes in its Himalayan regions bordering Nepal and China.

The deadly floods on the Nepal-Tibet border were believed to have been triggered by a glacial collapse that was detected as a magnitude ۵.۲ seismic event by geologists. You can read this explainer to find out more about how a collapsing glacier can generate a powerful flood, and whether the climate crisis is contributing to the risk.

Madan Kaushik, state disaster management minister in India’s Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, said: “Since we share a border with Nepal, as a neighbour, and also have a similar geographic situation … we have asked our department to monitor all the glaciers and known glacial lakes in the region.”

Uttarakhand is one of the most ecologically sensitive regions of India, with ۱,۲۶۶ glacial lakes. As glaciers melt, water can accumulate in lakes held back by natural barriers. If those barriers fail, vast volumes of water can be released suddenly, triggering devastating floods.

“We have asked our teams to be vigilant and monitor if a similar situation is emerging anywhere in the state,” Kaushik told AFP.

The Guardian’s south Asia correspondent Hannah Ellis-Petersen and journalist Gaurav Pokharel report from the Nepalese town of Bidur, where rescue efforts are being coordinated. They spoke to survivors mourning loved ones and confronting the loss of their homes and livelihoods after devastating floods swept through their communities.

Among those caught in the floods was Sangke Dolma Tamang, who described the moment she watched her husband being swept away and returned to find her home and village destroyed:

Sangke Dolma Tamang, ۶۱, had been cheerily cooking snacks in her village of Mailung in the Rasuwa district when the floods came without warning. The whole family ran uphill for safety, but as she grabbed for her husband, he slipped from her grip and was washed into the dark, fast-moving waters.

“Others tried to pull him to safety, but the flood swept him away,” she said, tears rolling down her weathered cheeks. There was, she said, nothing left of her village now. She had spent a night sheltering on higher ground, until an army helicopter arrived and brought to her safety at the barracks. Her son too was missing since the disaster, and she waited anxiously for any news.

“Now I have nothing left to live for,” said Tamang. “The whole house is gone. We couldn’t salvage anything.”

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Nepal’s government has appealed for financial help as it faces the daunting task of recovering from the devastating flash floods and braces for the possibility of more flooding.

Entire communities have been swept away, leaving families homeless or sheltering in temporary facilities.

“Multiple bridges have been washed away and major roads disrupted, leaving some of the worst-affected communities extremely difficult to reach,” the Red Cross says.

At least ۱۸ schools have been destroyed and another ۲۰ damaged, leaving about ۱۰,۰۰۰ school-age children affected, according to the UN Children’s Fund.

The disaster comes just ahead of the anniversary of last year’s ۸-۹ September mass anti-corruption protests that toppled the government.

Nepal is now led by prime minister Balendra Shah, a ۳۶-year-old rapper turned politician widely known as “Balen”. The former Kathmandu mayor swept March elections on a wave of euphoria calling for political change.

The risk of a lake formed after the glacier collapse bursting near the China-Nepal border where the ⁠devastating flood occurred earlier ⁠this week has decreased, ​Chinese authorities said today, as its size appears to have shrunk.

Satellite images from Thursday this morning suggest water in the lake – straddling the China-Nepal border ⁠at the confluence of two rivers – has been slowly flowing through, decreasing the reservoir gradually, state broadcaster CCTV reported, citing the water resources ministry.

The ministry said satellite imagery of the surface area of the ⁠lake at Purepu Tsangpo river showed it was ۹۹,۰۰۰ sq metres in size this morning – around the size of ​۱۴ football fields combined – having shrunk by ۲۱,۰۰۰ sq metres compared ‌with images from Thursday.

Experts and authorities have warned of the extremely high risk of secondary disasters in the valley, especially from the lake that was formed by glacier debris, potentially endangering rescue operations downstream.

State-owned engineering and rescue enterprise China Anneng, which has been monitoring the lake since Thursday, dispatched a ۱۵-member team on Friday with reconnaissance drones, portable satellite stations and mobile surveillance cameras to gather more data about the ‌lake.

An overflow from the lake on Friday temporarily halted rescue work before further assessment deemed the risks manageable.

Thank you for joining us for our continuing coverage of the aftermath of Wednesday’s catastrophic flash floods in the Himalayan mountains near the Nepal-Tibet border.

Poor weather has hampered aerial rescue operations in Nepal as the search for thousands of people missing enters its fourth day.

Nepal’s finance minister says his country will need up to $۵bn to rebuild ⁠after the ⁠floods, believed to have been caused by a melting glacier high up in the mountains that set off a deadly cascade of water into the valleys below.

Finance ‌minister Swarnim Wagle told Reuters ‌today those figures are “just an ​estimate” and that “loss and ⁠damage is ​being assessed”.

Here’s a summary of what we know so far:

• Nearly ۳,۰۰۰ people are missing. Nepal’s disaster agency on Saturday said ۲,۴۲۶ people were missing on its side of the border, while China’s Xinhua news agency reports the total number of missing in Tibet is now ۵۵۴.

• The death toll in Nepal has now risen to ۶۲۶, while China’s Xinhua news agency earlier today reported seven people confirmed dead in Tibet.

• More than ۳,۷۰۰ people have been rescued in Nepal so far but at least ۹۳,۰۰۰ people are estimated to have been affected by the disaster, according to the Red Cross.

• At least ۷۷۷ foreigners are missing, with Nepal’s disaster agency on Friday reporting ۵۱۷ foreigners unaccounted for – which could include tourists and foreign workers – and Chinese officials putting the number of foreigners missing at ۲۶۰.