San Francisco Frontiers - Fresh flood warnings for disaster-hit Nepal and Tibet, 1,400 still missing

Emergency teams have recovered 392 bodies after a devastating tsunami-like wall of freezing water and mud wiped out towns under a torrent of sludge, burying homes, smashing bridges and dams and sweeping away vehicles.

Many of the missing are foreign tourists, including trekkers in the Himalayan nation and scores of Hindu pilgrims to Tibet's sacred snow-capped Mount Kailash.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the disaster was caused by a glacial collapse that triggered a vast flow of icy debris.

Climate change is causing glaciers to melt worldwide, increasing the risks of glacial lake floods and glacial collapses.

Emergency teams were racing to pluck survivors from affected zones, while Nepali soldiers used sniffer dogs to search for bodies buried under the suffocating dirt.

But their efforts are hampered by fears of new floods as water trapped by the immense piles of debris blocking the valley risks surging out.

Chinese authorities warned that a lake formed by the Wednesday's mudslide faces a "high risk of breaching and sending floodwaters downstream", according to state media late Thursday.

Kathmandu's Flood Forecasting Division separately issued a "special notice", warning of a growing lake behind debris left by the landslide and urging extreme caution.

- Thousands still missing -

Survivors in a makeshift Nepali hospital endured an agonising wait for news of their missing loved ones.

Kula Priya said she had lost everything when the deluge hit -- including her eldest son, who is missing.

"I don't care for wealth. I just want my son back. If any of you could rescue my son, please do it for me," she said.

"I don't know where to go. We had three houses, all of which were washed away by the floods."

Nepali police say they had recovered 389 bodies.

A further 910 people, including 517 foreign tourists, are out of contact in the country.

Beijing said 100 Chinese citizens -- not accounted for in that tally -- are also missing in Nepal.

Indians make up the largest number of missing foreigners, while the United States said 90 of its citizens were out of contact.

Across the border in Tibet -- where the only sources of information are Chinese authorities -- officials say hundreds are missing and three have died.

Chinese authorities also said they had evacuated 555 stranded tourists -- as well as 499 local residents --from Tibet.

Authorities have mobilised nearly 800 emergency workers, as well as sniffer dogs, speed boats, satellites and drones to help the rescue efforts, the state-run Xinhua new agency said.

- 'Inland tsunami' -

Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah, who urged the nation to "stand together" hours after the disaster, toured some of the hardest-hit areas on Thursday.

Shah told local authorities to "provide immediate relief to displaced families" and to open blocked roads, his office said in a statement.

Other foreigners out of contact include citizens from Australia, Britain, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Portugal, South Africa and South Korea, Nepal's tourism board said.

The sudden rush of mud and debris was "like an inland tsunami", travelling nearly 170 kilometres (105 miles) south into Nepal, said environmental historian Ruth Gamble, of Australia's La Trobe University.

Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India, said he would "pray for all those who have lost their lives".

- Glacial collapse -

The USGS said a glacial collapse caused seismic activity and had "catastrophic" downstream impacts in Nepal and Tibet.

"This event was initially reported as a magnitude 4.4 earthquake," it said, but the seismic recordings were analysed and it was found instead to be a "glacial collapse and debris flow".

Scores of Hindu devotees from across the world are among the hundreds missing on the border, as many were on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, on the Chinese side of the border.

Logadarrsiny Raman, 26, from Malaysia, said her parents, aunt and uncle were on a pilgrimage but she lost contact with them after dawn on Wednesday.

Raman said the travel agency told her its last contact with the group of 17 Malaysians was at 8:18 am Nepal time, when they were travelling towards the Nepal-China border.

The flood crashed into the area where they last were soon after.

"I'm very anxious," she told AFP. "My only hope is to hear back from them that they are safe."

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