Hundreds of bodies are 'no longer' identifiable, say Nepal officials as flood death toll rises to 675 with 2,426 missing – including 33 Brits

More than 30 British nationals are among hundreds of people missing and feared dead as rescue efforts continue after flooding in the Rasuwa district, which borders China’s autonomous region of Tibet.

The team, consisting of 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.

Mr Basnet said rescue efforts were continuing at a hydropower construction plant, where more than 100 people are believed to be trapped in a mud-filled tunnel.

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

The Chinese Ministry of Water Resources said water levels had dropped by 10 metres from Thursday morning to Friday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said: 'The scenes from Nepal are devastating, and our thoughts remain with everyone affected.

'The safety and welfare of British nationals is our top priority. That is why we are deploying a Rapid Deployment Team to Nepal to provide additional support on the ground for British nationals and their families at what is an incredibly difficult time.

'Our staff are working closely with the Nepali authorities, emergency responders and our embassy in Kathmandu to ensure those affected can access the assistance and information they need.

'We will continue to do everything we can to support British nationals impacted by this tragedy.'

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

Chitwan District officials, in southern central Terai in Nepal, have recovered 233 bodies.

However, they say, of those recovered, they have identified only four.

The authority said the following:

The remainder of the bodies are being kept in health institutions and holding centres, they added.

DNA samples are still in the process of being collected and noted

Locals have returned to the hard-hit village of Trishuli today in a bid to get what is left of their belongings.

Saraswait Ghale, 43, said she felt as if there was 'no world' in the aftermath of the flash floods.

'What is left? It’s like I am dead,' she said. 'I don't have anything.'

Describing what has been described as one of the country's worst natural disasters, she said 'the earth shook like an earthquake' as muddy water rushed past them.

She believed she would not survive the flash floods as the slopes nearby began to fill with water; luckily, she managed to reach higher ground.

But sadly, from here, she could see her village be swept away by the sludge.

Meanwhile, a teen who also lives in the village said her family home and business were obliterated.

Rishika Kalwar, 17, told the BBC:

Earlier, we brought news that the first team had reached the Rasuwagadhi border crossing between Nepal and Tibet on Friday.

Teams are still struggling to access many of the worst-affected areas due to the mountainous terrain and poor conditions.

This week, efforts have had to be paused or scaled back at times due to concerns about poor weather including rain deluges, and possible risk of further flooding.

But the impact of Wednesday's torrent has played a role too – some 25 miles of roads have been literally erased from the map, along with countless bridges and other infrastructure.

Nepal has called for technical expertise from the international community to help its rescuers solve these problems.

The grimly climbing death toll in the Nepal disaster has almost exclusively been made up of figures handed out by Nepalese authorities.

In neighbouring Tibet, Chinese authorities have tightly clamped down on news of the disaster, with few images and videos being distributed or available on social media.

In Nepal, 668 people are known to have died, with at least 2,426 missing.

As of Saturday, China has only confirmed seven deaths, bust says there are more than 550 missing.

Nepali army rescue teams are drilling in a race to rescue more than 100 people trapped inside hydropower tunnels, three days after devastating floods struck.

'The government has been continuing efforts… to rescue people trapped inside the tunnel of the Trishuli 3A Hydropower Project in Rasuwa,' the office of Nepal's prime minister said in a statement.

'As part of these efforts, work to clear the tunnel entrance has been intensified since early Saturday morning,' it said.

Those trapped are among 933 missing people who work on hydropower projects on the rivers where a wall of water swept down on Wednesday morning, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.

The agency said on Thursday that the army had already rescued 350 people under 'extremely risky' conditions, but that more than 100 remained trapped.

Initial reports suggested the trapped were in a single location, but officials said that rescue efforts were also underway at other hydropower projects.

Minister of Energy Biraj Bhakta Shrestha said operations were also ongoing at the Trishuli 3B site 'despite the adverse weather and extremely challenging circumstances'.

Photographs shared by the disaster office showed workers wading through churned mud and navigating vast boulders left by the floods.

A 13-year-old, NHS workers and a priest are among those with links to the UK who are missing and feared dead after flash floods in Nepal.

The death toll from the disaster has reached more than 600 as a team from the UK is set to arrive in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu on Saturday.

The Nepal Tourist Board has previously said that there are 33 UK citizens among the thousands missing after Wednesday’s devastating flash flood.

Among those missing with links to the UK are:

Hema Amin

• Hema Amin, from Croydon, south London, who started a pilgrimage to Gosainkunda lake on Monday that was supposed to last until September 4.
• The 63-year-old’s husband, Sunil Amin, told Sky News: 'I keep trying to call her. I’ve been trying, trying, trying.'

Hemangini Patel

• Ms Patel’s daughter told the BBC that her mother’s last known location is from a video from TikTok which was shared as she crossed into Tibet.
• She said her mother, 65, and her aunt, Hema Amin, had been on an Alpine Eco Trek tour when the flooding hit.

Bipin and Mala Patel

• Mala, 60, and Bipin, 66, Patel, from Coventry, went missing after travelling to Nepal and Tibet on a pilgrimage to the sacred Hindu site of Mount Kailash.
• Their son, Deepesh Patel, said the family last heard from the couple, who run a tutoring business, on Tuesday and their last known location was in the Gyirong area of the Nepal-China border.
• Deepesh’s brother Anant Patel, told Sky News he was 'shocked' at the lack of information about their whereabouts.

Nabhi Nandan Das

• Mr Das is a Hindu priest from south London who was leading a group on a tour to Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar.
• The 64-year-old priest, who lives in Streatham, south London and works at the Sanatan Mandir and Community Centre in Coulsdon, Surrey, was leading 11 Britons, including the missing 13-year-old girl, on the tour.

Spandan Sahu, 18, his father Santosh Sahu, 46, his mother Surabhi Manmath Padhy, 44, and sister Syna Kumari Sahu, 13

• Spandan had just finished his A-levels at Royal Grammar School, Guildford, and according to his LinkedIn was preparing to study philosophy, politics and economics at university.
• His profile said he was a senior prefect at the private school and a member of the hockey and cricket teams.
• His mother, Ms Padhy, won the categories of 'Mrs Popular' and 'Mrs Goodwill' in the 2018 Mrs India UK beauty pageant finals and his father Mr Sahu is chief executive of UK pharmaceutical technology company Charac.
• They live in the Surrey village of Cobham, with a neighbour describing them as a 'lovely family'.

Pavan and Kavita Haldia

• The couple’s 22-year-old son Prajval told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he last spoke to them on Tuesday on the phone and had a message from his parents on Wednesday morning, around an hour before the flood is believed to have hit.
• Prajval told the BBC he dropped his parents off at the airport for their trip to Kathmandu where they were spending a few days sightseeing before setting out on a pilgrimage with the South London Sanatan Mandir group.
• Speaking to Sky News, Prajval said his parents 'mean everything to me'.

Leena Bector

• Ms Bector, 53, a director of a care agency from Slough, west London, is among 27 travellers associated with the Fishtail Tours and Travels group currently unaccounted for.
• Her husband, Bhupesh Bector, told The Times: 'I know that she’s in Nepal for sure… so even if they find her today or tomorrow, I need to be there.'

Sarada Simkhada.

• Ms Simkhada is a senior nurse at Darent Valley Hospital in Kent, who was in Nepal making a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash.
• Her brother Shambhu wrote on social media: 'My dear sister, wherever you are, please stay strong. We are praying for your safety every moment and waiting desperately for you to return home.'

Pravin Atmakur

• The 54-year-old NHS psychiatry consultant was leading a pilgrimage of 77 people to Mount Kailash when the flood hit, according to the Telegraph.
• His wife, Manjula, has travelled to Kathmandu from the UK to search for her husband, the newspaper said.
• 'I came here with the only agenda that I want to take Pravin back home alive,' Ms Atmakur said, speaking to the paper from Nepal.
• 'No one told us anything. We clearly feel let down by the British government. There is no information, they are waiting for China to share the information, updates,' she added.
• Her husband was born in southern India before moving to the UK and their son studies at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Sumitra Sapkota

• Ms Sapkota’s husband Pamod Poudel flew to Nepal on Thursday to search for her as well as his mother, uncle and brother.
• Pramod Poudel, 24, who runs a Nepalese street food company in Sussex, said: 'The flood came and took everyone, including the house.
• 'I haven’t heard from them because there’s no power or anything. I am very sad.'
• Speaking to the BBC, Mr Poudel said his mother, brother and uncle are also missing since the flood.

Neetu Goyal Tiwari

• The 51-year-old’s brother Naresh Goyal, told the BBC his sister has not been seen since Wednesday and that completing the pilgrimage was 'her dream'.
• Ms Tiwari, a British citizen, had been travelling with a group from the spiritual organisation Isha Foundation and was expected to travel to India on Thursday and meet her brother and parents, according to the broadcaster.

Geetha Reddy

• Ms Reddy’s husband Vikram Kolagatla, who is from London, told the BBC he has not heard from his wife since the flooding hit.
• She has two daughters aged 12 and 14.
• He said: 'We’re not sure what to do. I have two little girls, and their schools are starting next week.'
• 'The kids still don’t believe it. They think she’s stuck in the flood and that she’ll come back. They think she’s stuck somewhere and there’s no mobile network.'

A Nepali official has said bodies from different locations have 'continuously' been arriving at the morgue since the flash floods.

Kuman Singh Gurung, Kaski's chief district officer, said:

Kaski is part of Gandaki Province, and is located west of where disaster struck earlier this week.

Nepal's Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal previously said the country had asked other governments as well as international organisations to help with freezers so they could preserve the dead until family members were found.

He said:

Britain's rapid response team is set to arrive in Nepal's capital city, Kathmandu, today.

The deployment squad will provide support to British nationals who have been impacted by the tragedy.

It comes after 33 Brits were reported missing following flash floods in the country earlier this week.

The team, which includes specially trained crisis response staff, will work with local authorities as well as the British embassy.

They will organise help for Brits arriving and leaving the airport and help those looking for information about missing loved ones.

They will also coordinate with local authorities and emergency responders to reinforce ground operations.