At least 547 people have been killed in flash floods triggered by a glacier collapse in Nepal, police said on Friday.
Chinese authorities previously confirmed that at least five more people had been killed in neighbouring Tibet, which is controlled by Beijing.
This brings the overall death toll from Wednesday’s disaster in the Nepal-Tibet border region to 552.
In addition, Indian authorities have recovered seven bodies from a river flowing from Nepal. The victims are also believed to have died in the devastating floods.
More than 1,400 people, including hundreds of foreign tourists, are still reported missing.
Several dozen Latvian nationals are also among those reported missing.
Nepalese police said that 3,253 people have been evacuated by helicopter from the disaster zone, many of them injured. More than 150 injured people have been taken to hospitals in Kathmandu, as well as in the districts of Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading.
A police spokesperson told the DPA news agency that authorities still do not have a clear picture of the number of people missing and that it will take several more days to fully assess the scale of the disaster.
According to the latest figures from Nepalese authorities, 977 people are currently officially listed as missing.
Many of those killed have yet to be identified because the powerful torrents of water and mud have severely damaged the victims’ bodies.
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