We're continuing to report on the aftermath of the deadly flash floods in the Nepal-Tibet border region here.

Image source, Reuters

Rescue efforts have entered their fifth day after flash floods hit the Nepal-Tibet border region on Wednesday, with Nepalese authorities now putting the death toll at 675.

According to Nepal's disaster response agency, more than 7,500 people have been rescued, nearly 2,500 are missing, and 219 people have been injured in the disaster.

The tourism board earlier shared an update that 250 foreign nationals had been rescued, though 320 were still unaccounted for.

As anxious crowds gathered in the Nuwakot district of Nepal, waiting for news of loved ones, search efforts were also under way at the Trishuli-3 'A' hydropower site, where rescuers are hoping to find survivors in tunnels buried beneath the mud.

One man spoke to the BBC today after flying to the area from Sussex and travelling with his father to see what’s left of his village. His wife, mother, uncle and brother are missing, he says, and the site where his village was is entirely under water.

Amid the loss and devastation, there have also been stories of hope. A little earlier we brought you an image of the moment a mother was reunited with her eight-year-old son, who managed to climb a tree to escape the flood.

Nepal has been hit hard by climate impacts, but critics question how well it has preparedpublished at 22:34 BST

22:34 BST

Navin Singh Khadka
Environment correspondent, BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

Nepal has a point when it says it is a victim of a climate crisis that it did not cause.

The country is also one of the worst-hit by climate impacts like floods, landslides, wildfires, and droughts.

To support the later part of that argument it often stresses its share in the global total of greenhouse gas emissions – the prime culprit of global warming -- which is less than 0.05%, according to some studies.

With almost all its electricity generation from hydropower given its abundant water resources, much of them Himalayan glacier-fed, it has also been trying to ramp up installation of other clean energies like solar and wind.

And then, officials say, it has protected more than 46% of its land as forests that are also carbon sinks – a major weapon in the world’s fight against climate crisis.

Years of political instability has also meant that it has not been able to do what it could to adapt to some of the inevitable impacts of climate change.

It has received significant climate finance from developed world and international financing agencies for adaptation over the years. But critics argue not much of it has reached the vulnerable communities on the ground.

Image source, S Jaishankar / X

Nepal's foreign minister earlier told a press conference the damage bill following the flash floods could amount to "billions of dollars", though he says he is hesitant to speculate at this stage. Here's what countries have pledged.

UK: Prime Minister Andy Burnham has promised £5m, calling the situation "very distressing and devastating".

EU: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced €2m (£1.7m) in "immediate humanitarian aid" to deliver "life-saving assistance".

Canada: Foreign Minister Anita Anand has pledged C$5m (£2.65m) to fund emergency efforts, to be delivered via the UN, Red Cross and other NGOs.

US: The US State Department has promised $500,000 (£369,000) for emergency shelter, water, sanitation and other relief items.

India: A third flight carrying aid from India landed in Kathmandu on Friday carrying "10 tonnes of humanitarian assistance" and an 11-member medical and tunnel rescue team, according to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

China: China has also coordinated emergency supplies and cash assistance, according to the Chinese ambassador to Nepal.

Image source, Nepalese government

An update now on rescue efforts at the Trishuli-3 'A' hydropower site, where rescuers are hoping to find survivors in tunnels buried beneath the mud.

Nepalese energy minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha says a hole has successfully been drilled into a tunnel used to carry cables.

Initial inspection has revealed there is no debris inside, he says, but no communication has been established with anyone inside.

He says air is now being pumped in to try and detect if anyone is nearby.

The hope is that, if the weather allows, the rescue team will work through the night to make a hole large enough to fit a person, he says. They would then hope to reach the facility's larger tunnels tomorrow via the cable tunnel.

But there is a risk rescue operations may be impacted and even suspended "for some time as water flow is increasing due to continuous rain", he says.

"May all those inside the tunnel be rescued safely. Let us pray and hope for a successful rescue during this difficult time," he adds.

Image source, Reuters

A newly-released image shows the moment eight-year-old Zoyal Ghale was reunited with his mother on Friday.

The boy ran into a forest and climbed a tree to survive the flood water in Nepa, Reuters news agency reports.

He was airlifted after being found alone with a broken leg and cuts to his face and has been recovering at a hospital in Kathmandu, according to the news agency.

His mother Matti Maya Tamang, 28, told Reuters that she feared he had died and had been looking at shelters and collection points for him.

Hannah Roe
BBC South East

Image source, Pramod Poudel

Pramod Poudel has today been out with his father to see what’s left of his village in the hope of gathering information about his family.

He flew to Nepal two days ago from his home in Sussex after hearing that his wife, mother, uncle and brother were missing.

Pramod was hoping to visit his village, but when he arrived he found it entirely under feet of water.

"This is where I was born and raised. As you can see, there is nothing now that exists. It’s... to be honest it’s very hard to see. It’s devastating to look at," he says.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

The Nepali foreign minister has asked for foreign support to help provide freezers to preserve the bodies of flooding victims while they try to locate their loved ones.

Earlier during a news conference Shisir Khanal says that "hundreds of bodies have been found downstream".

"There is a risk of fast decomposition because these bodies have been in water for a long time," he says, adding that Nepal has "very limited" space to keep bodies in a frozen state for a long time.

He says he is seeking active support from foreign governments to find ways to help preserve the bodies.

Burials have begun in parts of Nepal as authorities face the challenge of how to deal with the number of bodies retrieved, BBC News Nepali reports.

A spokesperson for the Nepalese health ministry says it is necessary to bury many bodies in the one area to ensure they are treated in a respectful, safe and legal manner given the risk of decomposition and infection. Bodies are not buried in the one plot - one body is buried per grave, with proper identification.

The national disaster response agency said earlier the death toll had risen to 675.

Many of the bodies cannot be easily identified, but DNA samples will be collected and identifying marks recorded, with records kept, including about the location of burial, officials say.

"It has been decided to bury them systematically in government, community or forest areas, so that the bodies and remains can be given to those who come to search for them later," the spokesperson says.

International protocols are being followed and recommendations of the World Health Organization have been followed, they say.

Damodar Adhikari, an expert who has worked with the Nepalese government on behalf of the World Health Organization, including in the aftermath of the 2015 earthquake, says bodies need to be stored in a way so that relatives can identify the body and, if religious traditions require, carrying out a cremation.

Image source, Reuters

Nepal's disaster response agency has warned people against flying drones in the flood-hit area.

It says unauthorised drones have been operating in the area and "posing serious safety risks" to rescue helicopters and hinder search operations.

Anyone flying drones without permission will face legal action, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) says.

Image source, Nepalese Government

A hole is being drilled to search for survivors in a tunnel where workers are trapped at a hydroelectric facility, the Nepalese energy minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha says.

Describing it is as a "partial success", he says oxygen will also be put through the hole made at the Trishuli-3 'A' hydropower site.

"Even small progress is a sign of great hope for us," he says, adding rescue efforts will continue "until the last possible moment to save the lives of our brothers and sisters trapped inside the tunnel. Let's not give up hope."

As we've been reporting, search and rescue efforts are ongoing at a number of hydroelectric plants in the area.

Shrestha says rescue efforts have been ongoing for the past two days at the Trishuli 3 'A', where 82 people have been working continuously for around two days despite adverse weather conditions.

The work is very challenging due to the adverse weather conditions, the minister says.

Rescue efforts are also ongoing at another hydropower site, Trishuli-3 'B', where Nepalese authorities say a specialist team from China has now arrived.

Global warming has led to accelerated melting of Himalayas' glacierspublished at 17:17 BST

17:17 BST

Navin Singh Khadka
Environment correspondent, BBC World Service

How much of a role climate change played in the collapse of the glacier that caused this devastating flood might be known if there are focused studies in the days to come.

But what we already know is that global warming has led to accelerated melting of Himalayas' glaciers, icefields, snowpacks and permafrost.

Scientists say thinning and retreating of glaciers can not only cause their collapse but can also rapidly fill up glacial lakes that can then burst out causing floods.

They say ice and snow buttress mountain slopes – just like cement keeps buildings intact. When they fast melt, then mountains destabilise and we see increased incidents of rockfalls, landslides, avalanches and debris floods – as we are seeing in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region.

Because of warming, experts say, higher parts of mountains now also see rains instead of snow that can also make them unstable.

A study by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development released in March showed that ice loss rates in the region have doubled since 2000.

Image source, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nepal

Nepali Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal says the sudden nature of Wednesday's floods suggests China did not have "full knowledge" ahead of the incident, and has been sharing information since.

As we've just reported, China has denied what it says are allegations in the Nepalese media that it failed to warn Nepal ahead of the disaster.

"Since this disaster we are in very, very close co-ordination, co-operation and communication with the Chinese authorities, and they have been very forthcoming with sharing information and data," Khanal told a news conference earlier.

Asked whether that cooperation existed before Wednesday's flooding or if it began after, the minister says that given the sudden nature of the disaster he believes neither government had "full understanding or clarity".

"In this particular context it looks like that even the Chinese side probably did not have that full information, and the way it happened it appears quite sudden, their communities have also been fully impacted, and the border areas on both sides have been totally damaged," he says.

"But since the incident they have been fully providing us all the information and data we need."

The number of people killed in Nepal has risen to 675, according to the latest release by Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA).

Officials say more than 7,500 people have been rescued, nearly 2,500 are missing, and 219 people have been injured in the disaster.

The NDRRMA says that over 18,700 rescuers have been deployed to help with the search operation.

This post has been updated to clarify the number of people who have been rescued.

The Nepal Tourism Board says that 261 foreign nationals have been rescued while 320 are still unaccounted for.

In its most recent update the tourism board provided a breakdown of how many people have been rescued from each country:

• Belgium - 1
• Bulgaria - 1
• China - 40
• Germany - 4
• India - 167
• Italy - 2
• Malta - 4
• Oman - 1
• Portugal - 1
• Russia - 2
• Spain - 2
• Switzerland - 2
• Turkey -2
• Ukraine - 8
• US - 3
• Unidentified - 21

Navin Singh Khadka
Environment correspondent, BBC World Service

China is rebutting what it calls "recent comments in Nepali media and online platforms accusing it of failing to warn Nepal of the mudslide disaster".

A statement from the spokesperson of the embassy posted on X says: "Nepal and China have maintained close communication on transboundary disaster management."

It mentions a meeting between government agencies from both sides in May "made substantial progress in promoting establishment of a transboundary disaster information sharing mechanism".

Some senior officials in Nepal told the BBC despite such occasional meetings, engaging with the Chinese side for potential disaster-related information "had not been so easy".

They said such a mechanism for sharing crucial information should have been established long ago given the increasing disasters in the Himalayan region the two countries share.

They, however, said Nepal was now receiving updates and information including drone and satellite images from China after the 26 August devastating floods.

Anil Pokhrel, former head of the Nepal's National Disaster Reduction and Management Authority, said an MoU was signed in 2019 but such co-operation was yet to happen in a systemic and organised way - also because Nepal had been unable to pursue it seriously.

The Nepali foreign minister says authorities in Nepal and China were in discussions about establishing an early warning system in disaster-prone areas when the flood hit.

Shisir Khanal was asked in a news conference earlier whether there were plans to install early warning systems in at-risk areas, to which he answered: "We were in an active discussion process to establish this, but unfortunately this incident happened."

Image source, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nepal

Nepali Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal has called on the world to embark on a "global effort" to tackle climate change.

In a press conference earlier, Khanal described his country as one of the lowest contributors to greenhouse emissions while being one of the biggest victims of global warming.

Asked whether the government was planning to investigate avalanches in the area to better understand the cause of the disaster, Khanal said the government planned to undertake further research, with a "joint mechanism" with Chinese researchers already in existence to better understand the changes to Himalayas.

"We'd ask the world... to take climate change as one of the major challenges that Nepal and its citizens face, and this has to be a global effort," he said.

"We request the global community to come together and preserve the Himalayan ecosystem."