Searches continue for thousands missing as death toll tops 670 after Nepal flood

Rescue workers in the Devighat area of Nuwakot district, Nepal (Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP) AP Press Association Reporters 2 minutes ago Searches are continuing for thousands missing amid the devastating flash flood in Nepal which has left more than 670 dead.

An update from Nepali authorities on Saturday brought the combined death toll in Nepal and Tibet to 676 with nearly 3,000 people missing.

The latest figures from Chinese state media reported seven people were dead and 554 people were missing in Tibet.

On Saturday, a rapid deployment team from the UK arrived in Nepal to provide support for Britons and their families.

The team, comprising specially trained crisis response staff, will work alongside the British embassy and local authorities.

They will help co-ordinate assistance for British nationals arriving at and departing from the airport, support those seeking information about missing relatives, liaise with local authorities and emergency responders, and reinforce existing consular operations on the ground.

Forming part of the UK’s wider response to the flooding, which includes £5 million of humanitarian support for relief and recovery efforts, the team will also work with families in the UK concerned about loved ones in the affected area.

A damaged house stands amid debris of flash flooding in Nuwakot district in Nepal on Saturday (Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP) AP Two teenagers, a 13-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy, are among the 33 British nationals believed to be unaccounted for.

Others with links to the UK who are missing include an NHS nurse, a Hindu priest from south London who was leading a tour in the region and an 18-year-old from Surrey who had recently finished his A-Levels.

Rescue efforts had previously been hampered by fears of more flooding from a lake formed by the glacier collapse which sparked the flooding on Wednesday.

The District Administration Office in the Nepalese district of Chitwan said it had been able to identify only four of the 233 bodies recovered. It said DNA samples were being taken from the bodies which were “in a state of decomposition and no longer identifiable”.

The UK’s £5 million support package will support Nepal’s response efforts, including a combination of UN, Red Cross and NGO interventions.

A woman walks through mud and debris left behind by flash flooding in Nepal’s Nuwakot district (Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP) AP Geetha Reddy is among those missing and her husband, who is from London, told the BBC he has not heard from his wife since the flooding hit.

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