Nepal flood death toll rises to 359 as search continues for dozens of missing Britons

Thirty-three British citizens, including a 13-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy, are missing following the catastrophic flash flooding in Nepal, triggered by a wall of ice, mud and rock that collapsed into a mountain river.

Authorities in Nepal used helicopters to search for survivors and drop emergency supplies to thousands cut off in towns and valleys after Wednesday's disaster swept a road thronged by trekkers and pilgrims that links Kathmandu with Lhasa in Tibet.

Local media put the death toll at 359, with dozens of bodies swept down into the plains from where they were being recovered.

Nepal's Home Minister Sudhan Gurung said the focus remained on finding survivors as rescue teams located 100 missing Indian visitors, mostly pilgrims, and 25 Chinese workers in the worst-hit region around Trishuli.

More than 650 foreigners were still unaccounted for while Nepali authorities were yet to determine the number of locals missing.

The Red Cross said that entire villages had been destroyed and impassable roads and bridges had left communities cut off.

The full scale of the disaster remains unclear, it added.

"It was a huge gush of mud coming straight towards us," said Keshav Prasad Baral, a 68-year-old survivor being treated in a Nepali hospital.

"As it got closer, it kept rising higher and higher. When I saw it enter our home, I tried to grab my wife's hand and take her to the terrace. But she was swept away by the mud."

A helicopter ferried him to safety four hours later.

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He added: "My wife is still somewhere beneath the mud. She's gone."

The tally of missing in Tibet's Gyirong county was 558, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said on Thursday, including 260 foreign nationals.

China said the death toll stayed at three.

The missing foreigners in Nepal were from more than two dozen countries, including 288 from India, 63 from the United States, 51 from Malaysia, 34 from Australia, 33 from Britain, and 25 from Canada.

Andy Burnham has said the UK has offered £5million to help the Nepalese government amid a "very distressing and devastating situation" following flash floods.

The Prime Minister told reporters an offer had also been made for emergency responders to head to the affected area.

Speaking to journalists during a visit to South Wales, the Prime Minister said: "It’s a devastating picture that is emerging from what has happened in Nepal.

"Scenes that we’ve never seen the like before, I don’t think, certainly the scale of the devastation."

He added: "So there is immediate action being taken. We are deploying consular support staff to the region so that British nationals will be able to access support 24/7.

"An offer has been made of emergency responders to head to the region but that’s obviously a matter for the Nepalese government.

"But also we’ve offered £5million to help with that response effort.

"Obviously, there are a number of British nationals who currently are thought to be missing and we’ll be providing all the support we can to their families in what is a very distressing and devastating situation."

Speaking to GB News this morning, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said: "It's an appalling and devastating situation.

"Anybody who saw the pictures yesterday of that wall of water and mud sweeping away buildings, people and everything in its path. We are doing everything we can to help the Nepalese authorities."

"They've said there are currently 33 UK citizens missing. It's a dynamic situation. It's possible that figure could grow. My colleague, the Foreign Secretary, has posted two phone numbers on the Foreign Office website and social media for concerned families.

"We know that families will be desperate for information. We'll get all the information we can to the families, and as a government, we will do everything we can to support the Nepalese authorities in the rescue effort that is underway."