Nepal flash flood deaths surpass 600, with around 3,000 still missing

The death toll from Wednesday's devastating flash floods in Nepal and along the border with China rose to at least 676, with around 3,000 people still missing, as rescue operations entered their fourth day.

Chinese authorities have reported seven deaths and more than 550 missing, while Nepal's disaster agency said the death toll had climbed to 669 with 2,426.

Poor weather and challenging terrain have hampered aerial rescue operations.

In Nuwakot, one of the Nepali districts devastated by the floods, helicopters resumed operations before noon Saturday after poor weather temporarily obstructed their activities. Some helicopters were loaded with boxes and bags of aid, including clothes, instant noodles, crackers and rice. Others returned from the flood-hit areas carrying survivors.

More than 3,700 people have been rescued in Nepal so far, according to authorities there, while China's state media said 558 people were missing on the Chinese side. Hundreds of the missing are foreigners who were in the area to work, trek or make a pilgrimage to a sacred peak on the Tibet side of the border.

Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet said authorities believe more than 100 people are trapped in a tunnel filled with thick mud at a hydropower construction site in Nepal's Rasuwa district. In a video from the scene, rescuers pulled and pushed a man covered in dark brown mud out of the tunnel. He was one of dozens who were likely trapped inside.

Basnet said rescuers had used baskets and ropes to reach some people, but the operation remained difficult because of 4 to 5 feet of mud and the limited number of places where helicopters could land.

Priti Kharel said she believes her brother Milan is one of those trapped inside the tunnel. He works as an engineering geologist at Doosan Enerbility, and his family has not heard from him since the floods. Kharel said friends who were at the site told her family that Milan might still be there.

"It's already four days," Kharel said. "We want the government to rescue him as soon as possible."

Nepalese Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said locating those still missing is "currently our national priority." He said Nepal's government has sought specialized support from neighbors for tunnel rescue, survivor-detection technology, rapid forensic and DNA analysis, and morgue refrigerators.

An 11-member tunnel rescue reconnaissance team from India has been deployed while a similar rescue team from China is expected shortly, Khanal added.

At relief centers, families are waiting anxiously for news of their loved ones as the death toll and the number of those missing continue to rise. Others scour hospitals and paper lists for any signs of hope.

In Kathmandu, Nepal's capital, relatives and friends gathered outside the main government hospital from early morning, desperately searching for news of missing loved ones. Many shuffled between the help desk and the hospital notice board, clutching photographs and scanning injured patients' lists in the hope of finding them.

Families covered hospital walls with posters showing missing relatives, photographs and contact numbers in a desperate appeal for any clue that could bring them home.