In Nepal, rescue efforts are continuing following deadly flash floods.

Helicopters have been drafted in to rescue those stranded.

Away from the worst-hit areas, family members are lining up to speak to officials about their missing relatives.

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

Image source, Getty Images

Adam Mandeville
Reporting from Belfast

Sabin Pandey lives in Northern Ireland and helps to runa tour company in Nepal.

Sabin’s cousin, who is a tour guide in the region, has been missing since the disaster, along with 46 other people in the tour group.

"It’s a very difficult time," he tells BBC Radio Ulster’s Good Morning Ulster.

At first, Sabin thought the lack of signal was stopping the group from making contact. But, when Sabin’s brother took a helicopter over the hotel the group had been staying in, he says there was "no trace" of the building.

"My heart sank. The whole hotel is completely rubble."

Now, Sabin believes there are "very slim chances that we could get any survivors".

Shreejana Shrestha
BBC Nepali, reporting from Nuwakot

BBC Nepali's Shreejana Shrestha travelled to Nuwakot, one of the main affected districts in central Nepal, to visit an army camp that had been turned into a search and rescue centre. This is what she saw.

I entered the camp to an absolutely heartbreaking scene.

Hundreds of people were queuing outside, desperately trying to see if they could find their loved ones.

Inside, a woman cradling an infant in her arms was crying hysterically. Her entire family, including her father, husband and mother, were all missing. She was traumatised, and in so much pain.

There were other people who had sustained injuries, and some who said they had miraculously survived.

One driver who was working in Rasua told us he'd been thrown into the water when the floods hit. He still doesn't know how he managed to survive. Yet while thankful to be alive, he was also devastated - he had lost more than 20 of his friends.

When I tried speaking to him I could see he was unable to focus, and not in a proper state of mind. There were tears in his eyes.

At one point while I was filming, a woman - perhaps in her 60s or 70s - was taken out of a helicopter and brought to the centre to be treated. She suddenly collapsed as I was recording, and I later learned that she had died.

It is difficult to describe what I saw.

You can read more of Shreejana Shrestha's account in our story

Image source, Reuters

It's just gone 17:30 in Kathmandu, and rescue operations are still ongoing after a deluge of material careered towards northern Nepalese towns on Wednesday.

Here's a look at the latest developments:

• Chinese officials are monitoring a barrier lake that formed following Wednesday's landslide, saying the situation is "currently at a critical stage" due to the risk of overflowing
• Earlier, Chinese state media said rescue operations had to be paused after water started trickling out of the lake but efforts have since resumed
• China has confirmed the death toll in Tibet has risen to five, with 558 people missing
• In Nepal, police say 547 bodies have been recovered so far, with a further 1,473 injured. An extra 1,200 soldiers have been deployed to speed up search and recovery, the PM's office has said
• More than 900 people remain missing, including hundreds of foreign tourists - from countries including India, the US, Ukraine, Malaysia, Australia and the UK
• "I'm telling my kids to prepare for the worst," the husband of missing Briton Geetha Reddy tells the BBC, as he works to find out whether she survived the floods
• The Nepal Tourism Board says 121 foreign nationals have been rescued since Wednesday and that "all necessary efforts" are taking place to "rescue and evacuate injured, stranded and affected people"

The Nepali army has been working to rescue survivors who had been trapped inside a tunnel at a hydropower project in Rasuwa.

Footage shared by the country's prime minister office shows soldiers carrying survivors and crawling across thick slates of mud to reach others.

Watch the video below:

James Kelly
Your Voice

Image source, Vikram Kolagatla

Vikram Kolagatla is trying to find out whether his wife, Geetha Reddy, survived the flash flooding.

Vikram, from London, says Geetha, 43, went to the region for a pilgrimage on Saturday and was due back on 4 September.

He hasn't heard anything from her since the flooding occurred and he isn't getting "much information" from the British consulate, who he says have told him they are "depending on Nepal to update them".

Vikram, 50, and the couple's two daughters, aged 12 and 14, are anxiously waiting to hear any news.

“We’re not sure what to do. I have two little girls, and their schools are starting next week. The kids still don’t believe it.

"They think she’s stuck in the flood and that she’ll come back... there’s no mobile network. I’m trying to tell them to be prepared for the worst," he adds.

Azadeh Moshiri
Reporting from Trishuli, Nepal

It is now pouring with rain here in Trishuli. Emergency workers had already told us weather conditions were complicating their rescue missions.

The terrain here is mountainous, and the worst-hit areas on the other side of the river are now isolated.

Bridges have been washed away, and helicopters continue to search for survivors.

We just left the river bank of the Trishuli river, after emergency warnings had eased.

The road and buildings were already submerged in mud from Wednesday’s disaster, and emergency workers were still keeping an eye, worried of any further flooding.

Rescuers are on edge, and this rain won’t help.

Image source, PRAMOD POUDEL AND NARESH GOYAL

As search and rescue efforts continue, many families are desperately waiting for news about their loved ones.

Neetu Goyal Tiwari is one of 33 British nationals missing in the wake of the devastating Nepal-Tibet floods.

"Please help us find her," her brother Naresh Goyal tells the BBC.

Tiwari, 51, had travelled to Nepal to take part in the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra pilgrimage, which was "her dream", Goyal says.

She was expected to return to India on Thursday and meet her brother and parents. But now, the family is desperately searching for answers.

Meanwhile Pramod Poudel, who lives in Uckfield in East Sussex, has told the BBC he has not heard from his family - mum, wife, brother and uncle - since the flood hit on Wednesday.

"It's a very, very difficult time for me and for my family and my country at this moment, but obviously I have to go and see what's happening there," he says, adding he is travelling home to Nepal because "my family needs me".

Read more on this story: Families fly to Nepal in search for 33 missing British nationals

The head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) delegation to Nepal, David Fisher, says concerns remain about the potential impact of new flooding in the country.

"We're of course very concerned about the secondary flood," Fisher tells a press briefing this morning as he adds that an estimated 93,000 people may have been affected by Wednesday's disaster.

The IFRC has launched an emergency appeal for CHF 25m (£23m; $31m) to support the "immediate lifesaving response", the organisation says in a statement, adding it has mobilised "its entire global network".

Ishwor Joshi
BBC Nepali, Chitwan

The flash flood has washed away many bodies to faraway districts in the downstream and it appears that the identification of the deceased and the handover could be a huge challenge.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority have said 221 dead bodies have been discovered in Chitwan, nearly 186km (299 miles) south of Kathmandu and 134 bodies in Nawalparasi east - located around 200km (321 miles) south of Kathmandu.

Ganesh Aryal, who is the chief district officer of Chitwan, tells the BBC many bodies are not in a good state and the management has become a challenge.

A mortuary at the local hospital is out of capacity, hence the officials have designated a government building to store those bodies.

In the latest update from Nepal Police, it says 547 people are confirmed to have been killed so far, with a further 1,473 people injured.

This is slightly higher than the number of 538 announced by the Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) a short while ago.

The force adds that 4,473 police personnel are responding to the disaster.

As operations continue, the Nepali prime minister's office says "additional" personnel are now on the ground to speed up the search and recovery of bodies following Wednesday's floods.

A 1,200-strong team has been deployed "along the riverbanks from Rasuwa to Chitwan" and "to all possible locations along the affected areas".

As we reported earlier, a large number of the bodies recovered so far has been located in the Chitwan district - where the Trishuli river runs its course.

"Despite the river's strong currents and challenging geographical conditions, the military teams are continuously advancing their efforts to locate and collect bodies," the statement adds.

The search and rescue operations to find survivors of the flood is in a "critical stage", says the Chinese embassy in Nepal.

It says the "landslide-dammed lake" caused by the initial flood is "currently at a high water level and has begun to overflow, posing a risk of further breach".

"The situation is currently at a critical stage for rescue and emergency response in both Nepal and China," it writes on X.

"Relevant authorities in both China and Nepal are continuing to monitor the situation and assess and manage the risks," the embassy adds.

Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) says 538 bodies have now been found as rescue and recovery operations continue.

The agency also updated its missing toll, saying 977 people remain unaccounted for, including 517 foreign nationals.

Earlier, Nepal police said 489 people were confirmed to have died as a result of Wednesday's floods.

Both organisations have been providing separate updates on the rescue operation as it develops.

At least 121 foreign nationals have been rescued following devastating floods in Nepal that have killed more than 480 people, the Nepal Tourism Board has said.

It states those rescued include 85 Indian nationals, 16 who are Chinese and nine South Koreans - while three have not had their nationality established.

Authorities previously reported a list of more than 500 tourists that remained missing.

The tourist board says "all necessary efforts" are under way to "rescue and evacuate injured, stranded and affected people".

Nepal's ministers have agreed to contribute one month's salary to the Prime Minister's Disaster Relief Fund following this week's deadly flooding.

In a statement, the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers says the decision was taken at a cabinet meeting today.

It adds the cabinet also directed the Ministry of Finance to prepare a rehabilitation package for people and businesses affected by the floods that struck the Nepal-China border area of Rasuwagadhi, the Bhotekoshi River area, and downstream areas.

Image source, PMO Nepal

Nepal's Rasuwa district which has been badly affected by flooding is "physically totally disconnected", according to the country's information minister Bikram Timilsina.

"We have not been able to get there, it will take time for us to assess the scale of the damage," he tells the BBC, with the area located just north of the capital Kathmandu.

"Only by helicopter have we been able to rescue people," he adds.

Dimesh Tamang tells the BBC that 300 people in his hometown in Nepal have been rescued from tunnels following devastating flooding.

He is in the capital Kathmandu and says all he can do is give as much information as possible to rescuers to help find people who are stranded.

"I'm just listing the missing people from my own village," he tells BBC Radio 5 Live, adding there are ongoing efforts to find out exactly how many people are missing.

Tamang's family, who are still in his village close to the floods, have survived but "there's no phone, no electricity, and no road access there", he says.

"That's why I'm trying to use my expertise," he adds, including "which is a suitable place to land and which is a suitable place for after [the] rescue, because there are many people stranded there".

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

The situation in Nepal is "chaos", according to Dhruba Gurmachhan of humanitarian aid charity World Vision.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live from Nepal, Gurmachhan says those affected are "desperately waiting" for support.

"Their houses have been swept away... everything gone. It is a very heartbreaking, critical situation here," he says.

However Gurmachhan says he believes "there is hope" that those still missing "could be found alive", as network connectivity issues are preventing communication.

"The government is tirelessly working for finding those lives... and many agencies are working to provide assistance,” he adds.

Image source, Reuters

Earlier, Chinese President Xi Jinping chaired an emergency meeting with officials to coordinate rescue efforts following Nepal's deadly floods, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

Reports say that officials decided search and rescue efforts must be "scientifically formulated to spare no effort in locating missing persons from both China and abroad".

Xinhua adds the meeting heard that aid "must be provided" to affected areas in Nepal and that "international rescue co-operation must be carried out", with the publication reporting China will "provide emergency aid to the disaster-hit area in Nepal".