Nepal-Tibet disaster: Death toll nears 800; more than 3,000 missing

Rescuers in Nepal and China raced on Sunday (Aug 30) to find thousands of people missing after a glacier collapse unleashed a catastrophic mudslide across the Himalayas, as they faced challenging weather conditions and rising water levels.



Nepal authorities said on Sunday the death toll had risen to 781, with 2,502 people missing on the fifth day of rescue efforts.



Chinese state media earlier confirmed 16 dead in Tibet and 546 people missing following Wednesday's disaster, taking the overall toll to 797 dead and 3,048 unaccounted for.



The Red Cross has estimated that more than 90,000 people are likely to have been affected by the disaster, which China has linked to the effects of climate change



Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Nepalese counterpart during a Saturday telephone call that the mudslide was their "most severe cross-border disaster" in recent years and that rescue operations had risen to an unprecedented level of difficulty and complexity.



Beijing said 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries were unaccounted for in Tibet, near a key border crossing with Nepal.