Search and rescue personnel pushed through thick layers of mud on Thursday to hunt for upwards of 1,400 individuals unaccounted for following devastating flash floods and landslides along the Nepal-Tibet border, which pushed the confirmed death toll to 392 while wiping out entire communities.

Specialists cautioned that the threat of additional inundations persists just a day after a cataclysmic, tsunami-like wall of freezing water and sludge obliterated settlements, swallowed homes, destroyed bridges and dams, and swept away vehicles like playthings.

A significant portion of the missing population consists of international travelers, including Himalayan trekkers and numerous Hindu devotees returning from a sacred pilgrimage to the snow-draped Mount Kailash on the Tibetan frontier.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) explained that the catastrophe originated from a massive glacial collapse and debris cascade.

"This event was initially reported as a magnitude 4.4 earthquake," the organization stated, clarifying that a detailed review of seismic data instead revealed a "glacial collapse and debris flow" that produced severe downstream repercussions across both nations.

Analysts point out that accelerating global glacial recession driven by climate change is steadily elevating the frequency of glacial lake outbursts and structural collapses.

Emergency crews rushed to pull survivors from danger zones, while military personnel deployed trained sniffer dogs to locate victims buried underneath suffocating earth.

"It is a giant graveyard," remarked Omkar Joshi, a 35-year-old customs worker rescued from an elevation in the frontier locality of Timure, speaking to AFP. "All that is left are sand and pebbles, soaked red by human blood."

Official updates outlined widespread casualties and missing persons across the disaster zone.

Local authorities confirmed the retrieval of 389 corpses, with an additional 910 people—consisting of 517 foreign visitors—remaining unreachable within the country.

Authorities in Beijing noted that 100 extra Chinese nationals, not captured in the domestic tallies, are also missing inside Nepal.

Indian citizens constitute the largest bloc of missing foreigners, alongside 90 Americans while Nepal's tourism board confirmed that citizens from Britain, Australia, Malaysia, Netherlands, Portugal, South Africa, and South Korea are similarly out of contact.

Across the frontier in China, official outlets indicated that the mudslide event at Tibet's Gyirong Port claimed three lives, leaving 558 individuals missing, including 260 foreign nationals.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang traveled to the region on Thursday to supervise recovery operations, though the Tibet Autonomous Region remains largely closed to international press.

Local government entities in Tibet deployed nearly 800 rescue operatives, canines, and motorboats to support the mission, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Describing the sudden surge of debris as an "inland tsunami" that surged nearly 170 kilometers deep into Nepalese territory, La Trobe University environmental historian Ruth Gamble underscored the immense velocity of the disaster.

Prime Minister Balendra Shah, who urged citizens to "stand together" immediately following the calamity, inspected several devastated zones on Thursday, instructing municipal leaders to "provide immediate relief to displaced families" and clear obstructed pathways, according to an official release.

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, residing in India as an exile, conveyed that he would "offer prayers for all those who have perished," as initial promises of international humanitarian relief began arriving.

Lingering hazards remain acute as immense volumes of water accumulate behind massive blockages choking the valleys.

"With a blockage still lodged upstream on the Nepal-China border river, authorities warn a second flood may occur," cautioned Qianggong Zhang, director of climate and environmental risks at the Kathmandu-headquartered International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development.

In response, the Kathmandu Flood Forecasting Division released an urgent advisory on Thursday warning of an expanding reservoir forming behind the landslide wreckage and demanding maximum vigilance.

Among the massive crowd of missing people at the border are numerous international Hindu worshippers who were trapped at a customs post during their journey back from Mount Kailash, spiritual leader Sadhguru stated on Thursday.

"The entire group was there in the building," Sadhguru said in a video broadcast directed at his followers, weeping as he addressed the camera from Tibet amid the distressed cries of fellow pilgrims in the background.

"This is a terrible and extraordinary event."

Source: AFP