At least 95 people have died in Nepal and hundreds of tourists are missing after a massive flash flood and mudslide occurred on the Nepal-Tibet border. The flash flood washed away villages and destroyed roads and infrastructure.
Missing tourists include more than 100 from India, 47 from the US, 3 from the UK, and 4 from South Africa, according to the Nepal tourist board.
The area is popular with pilgrims and trekkers.
Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah said he was left with a "heavy heart" after the country's fatal flash floods.
"The whole nation is shocked and deeply distressed" by the loss of life and damage to property, he said in a social media post, calling the disaster "sudden" and "massive".
The flood happened in the early hours of Wednesday in Rasuwa, just north of Nepal's capital Kathmandu.
Initial information suggests an earthquake triggered an avalanche with melted snow pouring into the Bhote Koshi river.
Search operations are ongoing on both sides of the border, and 88 people have been rescued so far, according to the Nepalese army.
Officials say work is underway to establish the whereabouts of 579 tourists, including 466 foreigners from 28 different countries.
Of the tourists accounted for so far, 113 are Nepali, 54 from the US, 33 are UK nationals, and 4 from South Africa, according to the police.
The missing tourists include 12 travellers from the UK, as well as Americans, Malaysians, South Africans, and Indians.
Alpine Eco Trek, which offers guided tours and expeditions in Nepal, confirmed that 12 British nationals touring across the Nepal-Tibet border are missing.
Ram Kumar Adhikari, the manager of Alpine Eco Trek, said two Irish nationals and four South African nationals who were also on an excursion are among the missing persons.
Authorities say 200 of the missing people are women and 203 are men.
The foreign nationals are from 26 different countries.
Several areas downstream of the Bhote Koshi river, which flows from Tibet to Nepal, are on high alert, and roads, communications, and power in the region are also affected. Authorities have closed the main road to Kathmandu.
Verified videos from Nepal show water carrying away a bridge and multi-storey buildings collapsing from the force of floodwaters, with one town also having many buildings destroyed.
BBC Verify has located the clips to the town of Trishuli Bazaar area of Nuwakot District in Bagmati Province, about 25km (16 miles) north-west of Kathmandu.
The video shows the river Trishuli suddenly swelling with enormous amounts of water, which appear to have significantly increased in volume and speed and are filled with sediment.
The second verified video, filmed from the same location, shows the devastating aftermath. The river level has risen significantly, and the water carries trees and many buildings visible in the earlier video.
A new video filmed from inside a bus in Trishuli shows many people trying to flee as a flash flood rushes down the valley.
Pipole can be heard as the passengers cry, as the bus drives along the road following the river.
"Flood swept my family members away in front of my eyes," Kalpana Malla from Nepal's Nuwakot district said.
She said the flood swept away her father, mother, sister, and her sister's children.
"They couldn't escape the flood; no chance at all," she said. "This flood took everything except my son and I climbed the rooftop of a house and survived, but I can't explain how."
Her son, Sugam Malla, said he pulled his mother's hand to save her.
Another woman, Goma Pandit, said she lost her buffaloes and all her other cattle.
"My farmland is gone. Ten sacks of mustard seeds, tons of corn and rice paddy, everything is gone. Nothing remains."
Nepal Army spokesperson Rajarm Basnet told the BBC that efforts are underway to rescue 115 people from the village of Mailung.
The Nepalese Ministry of Home Affairs expects a huge loss of life in Timure, Syabrubesi, and Betrawati. Flooding has also caused damage to the Trishuli hydropower project.
The extent of the damage on the Tibetan side is not yet clear, but the BBC spoke to Guan Daoxuan in Sichuan province who said he lost contact with his wife on Wednesday morning.
Nepal's disaster management authority has asked people living near river banks in vulnerable areas to remain alert and take precautions.
Nepal's Foreign Affairs minister Shishir Khanal told parliament that 26 police personnel, nine armed police officers, and 44 members of the military are missing.
He said an earthquake at 08:37 local time triggered an avalanche, and preliminary information suggests this caused the flash flood.
Rasuwa saw deadly flooding last year, which killed 18 people after a glacier burst on the Chinese side of the border.
