Chinese rescuers faced treacherous conditions on Friday as they reached the main area wiped out by a deadly mudslide at the Tibet-Nepal border to search for hundreds of missing people, state media reported.
Two days after Tibet's border trade hub of Gyirong was pummelled by a wall of mud and debris, a team of 21 rescuers became the first to reach it in the late afternoon on Friday, state news agency Xinhua said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping chaired a meeting of top leaders about rescue operations, as the death toll in Tibet rose to five, with 558 still missing.
"There are still many hidden dangers of glaciers, ice lakes and geological disasters in the surrounding area, and rescue is facing great difficulties," Xinhua reported the leaders as saying.
After the mudslide hit on Wednesday, a huge lake formed upstream, raising concerns that it could burst and cause further severe flooding.
But risks from that lake are "gradually decreasing", Chinese state media reported on Friday, adding that rescue operations were "proceeding in an orderly manner".
Authorities had earlier paused operations in the worst affected area, citing the risk of renewed flooding due to the lake water beginning to overflow, state broadcaster CCTV said.
Rescuers ploughed on with their search Friday for survivors of deadly floods and landslides that struck Nepal and Tibet, with the threat of new torrents complicating their gargantuan task.
Emergency teams have recovered 482 bodies after a tsunami-like wall of water and mud crashed down on Wednesday, burying homes, smashing bridges and sweeping away vehicles.
More than 1,400 people are missing, including trekkers in the Himalayas and scores of Hindu pilgrims to Tibet's sacred snow-capped Mount Kailash.
The US Geological Survey said the disaster -- the deadliest for Nepal since a 2015 earthquake -- was caused by a glacial collapse that triggered a vast flow of icy debris.
Survivors recount flood horror
Survivors from Nepal's flood-ravaged districts, some on stretchers, others gently supported by the shoulders, were airlifted to safety as the constant roar of helicopters echoed across the devastated town of Bidur.
A few walked alone, their faces frozen in shock, as helicopters landed every few minutes on a football field inside the town's military cantonment, whipping up clouds of dust.
Among the survivors was customs agent Omkar Joshi, who spent the previous night stranded on a hilltop in the border town of Timure before being rescued.
"Everything is finished," Joshi, 35, told AFP, his voice breaking with emotion.
The town he fled had all but vanished beneath a torrent of water, mud and debris.
"Ninety per cent" of its people were dead, he said, swallowed by silt.
"It is a giant graveyard. All that is left are sand and pebbles, soaked red by human blood."
He said hundreds of people survived only by scrambling up nearby slopes as floodwaters roared through the valley below.
"It rained all night, but we stayed put till the choppers came for us," he added.
On Wednesday, a tsunami-like wall of water and mud swept through villages and towns along Nepal's Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers. Nepali police have recovered 270 bodies, but search operations continue.
Many of the missing are foreign tourists caught in the disaster, which, according to the US Geological Survey, was caused by a glacial collapse that resulted in an overwhelming flow of icy debris.
Buried alive
In Bidur, scores of anxious relatives peered through the barbed wire separating the football ground from the road, hoping to see the familiar face of a loved one.
Sita BK was searching for her younger brother Ramchandra, a schoolteacher in Timure.
"I spoke to him in the morning just before I heard the news," said the 37-year-old. "But ever since, his phone is switched off."
She said she had no choice but to wait.
"They (officials) said their priority is to rescue people who are contactable," she said. "But my brother is not."
Nearby, Anisha Nepali sat quietly in a corner, tears running down her cheeks.
The 24-year-old had rushed back from Kathmandu on Wednesday after hearing about the disaster, but has received no news of her missing mother and younger brother.
"I have given their names, but am yet to hear anything," she said.
Two young girls climbed out of a helicopter, still in their bright green school uniforms. A rescuer gently caressed their heads and offered them biscuits and water, before leading them away to safety.
Farther downstream, the devastation was etched into the shattered landscape of Devighat.
Residents said only one of roughly 150 houses along the banks of the Trishuli River remained intact: a four-storey old-age care home.
But rescuers said up to seven elderly residents were buried when a landslide crashed into the home as they tried to flee.
Images shared by a rescuer showed one of the victims trapped beneath an uprooted tree.
Sabir Miyan, a resident of the town, said warnings that floodwaters were racing down from the mountains had helped save lives.
"Many of us could save our lives, but everything else is gone," he said. "It is all ruins now." - AFP