By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Rescuers on Friday trekked through muddy waters and rugged Himalayan terrains as they continued to search for scores of people who were still missing after catastrophic flash floods in Bhotekoshi river that swept across Nepal’s border region with Tibet amid warnings of more floods.
However, the rescue operation was also paused at one or two places due to floods warnings by China.
The Nepalese police said 469 bodies have been recovered so far and more than 1000 persons were still missing. Nearly 1545 persons, who were caught in the disaster, have been rescued till date from different areas, the police said.’
The Nepalese police has warned that more flash floods could occur in near future in the areas.
The disaster struck on Wednesday (Aug 26) after a massive collapse of ice and rock in the Himalayas triggered a sudden surge of water, mud and boulders through valleys along the Nepal-China border. Entire settlements were inundated, while roads, bridges, vehicles and power infrastructure were swept away within minutes.
The toll was expected to rise as rescue teams have launched massive search operations despite the affected areas remaining inaccessible through roads.
The scale of the missing-person crisis remained unclear, with figures changing as authorities received fresh reports. Nepal has reported hundreds of people unaccounted for, while Chinese authorities have reported hundreds more missing in Tibet. Taken together, over 1300 people were reported missing on both sides of the border in some official updates.
The disaster has also raised alarm in India because a large number of Indian pilgrims and tourists were travelling through the affected region, particularly those heading towards the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage route. Latest reports put the number of missing Indian nationals at 179, although figures have varied as authorities continue to verify names and locations.
Helicopters were deployed to reach isolated communities, evacuate survivors and drop emergency supplies. Soldiers, police personnel and civilian rescuers were forced to negotiate unstable slopes, damaged roads and deep layers of mud while searching homes and vehicles buried by the torrent. At least 125 people, including 20 foreigners, were rescued during Thursday’s operations, according to Nepalese media reports.
The floods devastated key stretches of the road linking Kathmandu with Lhasa, a route heavily used by tourists, trekkers and pilgrims. In Nepal alone, at least 19 bridges and around 40 kilometres of roads were reported washed away.
Authorities have warned that rescue operations remain dangerous because of unstable terrain and the possibility of further flooding. The disaster has also renewed concerns over the growing vulnerability of the Himalayan region to glacial collapses, landslides and extreme weather events.