Nearly 362 people were killed and more than 1,300 people are missing - including at least 700 foreigners - after catastrophic flash flooding hit China and Nepal on Wednesday. The death toll in Nepal has climbed to more than 350 people as search and rescue operations are hampered by a lack of connectivity, power and resources, said media reports.

As a secondary threat, landslides have created a new lake, increasing the risk of landslides, mudslides and flash floods, with three days of rain ahead and collapsed earth forming unstable dams, China’s state media said.

Nepal and China both warned on Thursday of fresh risks of flooding in the Himalayas as two lakes that have developed ​on either side of their border threaten to burst in a region still grappling with ‌this week's catastrophic flood.

Search and rescue operations are still underway in the debris-strewn valleys and hillsides, with nearly 1,000 people still missing after Wednesday's flood struck the border regions of Nepal and China's Tibet, killing at least 362 people.

Both countries have ​blamed the flood on a glacier collapse that pushed rock, ice, mud and debris into river ​systems in the mountains.

Nepal's disaster authority issued a notice on Thursday warning that ⁠a lake formed by debris blocking a river at the flood site is rising and at ​risk of bursting, reported Reuters.

"Residents of the lower banks... passengers, rescuers engaged in rescue operations, and all concerned are requested ​to exercise special caution and stay in safe places away from the river banks and risky areas," the authority said.

China warned that 3 million cu m of water — the equivalent of about 1,200 Olympic swimming pools — are expected to ​flow into an already dammed lake on its side of the border over the next three ​days, creating a high risk of a breach, with peak flow expected around September 1.

Authorities in Nepal used helicopters to search for survivors and drop emergency supplies to thousands cut off in towns and valleys.

Local media put the death toll at 362, with dozens of bodies swept into the plains, from where they were being recovered.

Prime Minister of Nepal Balendra Shah on Thursday visited the Army Training Centre at Battar Bazar in flood-affected Nuwakot district to take stock of the prevailing situation and review ongoing search and rescue efforts.

His visit comes as one of the worst-affected areas of Nuwakot continues to grapple with damaged infrastructure, blocked roads, displaced residents, and ongoing efforts to locate people feared trapped beneath mud and debris.

Nepal's Home Minister Sudhan Gurung said the focus remained on finding survivors. Rescue teams located 100 missing Indian visitors, mostly pilgrims, and 25 Chinese workers in the worst-hit region around Trishuli.

Many Indians travel through Nepal to Mount Kailash, a high-altitude site in Tibet revered by Hindus and Buddhists. Hindus believe it to be the eternal home of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, reported Reuters.

On Wednesday morning, a massive surge of water slammed into Tibet's Gyirong border crossing on the pilgrimage route, sweeping away scores of people, verified videos showed.

The worst-affected Rasuwa district in north-central Nepal is also a trekking hotspot. August is not a peak ​season, though authorities believe there were some.

However, the month falls within the peak Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage season, when weather conditions and access routes into Tibet are most favourable.

More than 650 foreigners were still unaccounted for, while Nepali authorities were yet to determine the number of locals missing.

The Red Cross said entire villages had been destroyed, and impassable roads and bridges had left communities cut off. The full scale of the disaster remains unclear, it added.

Rescue workers are battling difficult conditions as they race to find survivors after a landslide and flash flood devastated communities on the China-Nepal border and in northern Nepal.

The Trishuli river is still flowing high, its waters blackened by silt and debris, while several bridges along it have been warped and twisted by the force of the water, a CNN team observed earlier today. 

Meanwhile Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the government is working with Nepalese authorities to establish contact with the missing Indians and locate those stranded in affected areas.

India has already handed over the second consignment of 37.5 tonnes of HADR material, medicines and food packets  to Mahabir Pun, Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation to support Nepal’s flood relief and rescue efforts.

The tally of missing in Tibet's Gyirong county was 558, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said on Thursday, including 260 foreign nationals. China said the death toll stayed at three.

Indian spiritual leader ​Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev said 77 ⁠pilgrims of various nationalities, along with three staff members from his Isha Foundation, were among those missing.

The group had completed the pilgrimage and was clearing immigration on the Chinese side when contact was lost, Maa Gambhiri, coordinator at Isha Sacred Walks, told Indian news agency ANI.

"We spoke to the group leader at 9:05 a.m. (on Wednesday). But when we tried again 10 minutes later, we couldn't reach him or anyone else. It appears the ⁠incident happened during ​that window," she said.

Nepali tour operators said they were fielding desperate calls from families around the world, reported Reuters.

"I flew to the border by helicopter to gather information, but I could find nothing," said managing director Gopal Thapa, whose brother is among the missing. "It is total destruction. The entire area ​is gone."

"So many families are reaching out to me, but I have no news to give them. There is very little hope," he added.

Meanwhile, Nepal's disaster authority has warned that a lake formed by a blockage in the river at the site of Wednesday's flood is rising and at risk of bursting.

With at least 353 deaths recorded in Nepal and hundreds of people still unaccounted for following yesterday’s flash floods, authorities have published a website for “unidentified and unclaimed” remains, reported CNN.

The website, which is being continuously updated, so far has at least 80 pages, each with 20 entries of remains.

Sharing details on X of the site, which features graphic imagery, Nepal Police said it allows people to see details of bodies affected by the catastrophic floods in the areas of Bhotekoshi and the Rasuwa district.