The executive director of ActionAid Nepal describes Wednesday's flash floods as being closer to a "tsunami".

"This flood was not as we imagined in our wildest dreams," Sujeeta Mathema tells BBC Breakfast.

"We are really in a bad state," she adds.

Mathema describes how roads and bridges have been "completely swept away" and authorities are unsure how many people are "under the mud," or stuck in tunnels and buildings.

She adds that it has been difficult to communicate with rescue teams as electricity has been cut out, with people relying on generators or solar panels for energy.

But despite the challenges the director says teams are on the ground and she is "very hopeful" there will be more successful rescues.

Shreejana Shrestha
BBC Nepali, reporting from Nuwakot

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

More than 180,000 rescuers and almost 40 helicopters are being used as a major rescue effort is under way.

One of the major challenges for rescuers is trying to find people in muddy areas who could still be alive.

When I visited an army camp in Nuwakot, I was met with a heartbreaking scene.

Hundreds of people were standing by the camp's barrier in the hope of getting a glimpse of their loves ones as helicopters landed nearby.

I found one woman carrying a small baby who was crying hysterically.

She explained she had lost her father, mother and husband in the flash floods.

She had nowhere to go and did not know who to contact.

Image source, Getty Images

Nepal's Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal says the country's "immediate priority" is to locate the missing and provide urgent relief.

Speaking at a press briefing he says 4,451 people have been rescued, including 187 foreign nationals. He also references the latest death toll and missing figures, which we reported earlier.

Khanal then appeals to the public to rely on "official verified information".

On the operation to locate survivors, he says search and rescue teams, medical teams and emergency responders are working together in the affected areas.

Authorities are co-ordinating with families to identify the missing, with diplomats facilitating communications with the families of missing foreign nationals, he adds.

As concerns about possible secondary flooding continue, Khanal says the risk is being monitored and that the region is on "high alert".

The only way to get to the hardest-hit areas is by helicopter, and some of the terrain has turned into "swampland" meaning helicopters cannot land, he says.

Tunnel rescue is something they are looking for support on, he says, adding that two additional Chinese teams are expected.

The Nepal Tourism Board has confirmed that 184 foreign nationals have been rescued so far following the flash floods.

It says it is also in communication with one person from Belgium and two people from Spain.

In its latest update at 13:30 local time (08:45 BST) it said a further 420 tourists are still unaccounted for.

The tourist board also provided a breakdown of how many people have been rescued from each country:

• Bulgaria - 1
• China - 27
• Germany - 4
• India - 114
• Italy - 3
• Malta - 4
• Oman - 1
• Portugal - 1
• Russia - 2
• South Korea - 20
• Switzerland - 2
• Turkey - 2
• US - 3

A nurse has described how people near the Nepal-Tibet border have been left in "despair without any hope of life" as they fear another wave of flooding.

Rajendra Pudasaini, the President Non-Resident Nepali Association in the UK, says he is still not sure what has happened to his family members and neighbours.

He told the BBC on Thursday evening that his wife's aunt and uncle, their granddaughter and her husband as well as his godson are missing.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Saturday morning, Pudasaini explains he managed to speak to his mother, who had been on her way to hospital when the river collapsed, 56 hours after the tragedy.

He described how a bridge was "blown away" during the destruction leaving his mother trapped at the hospital along with several other relatives. They were later saved by the Nepali Army.

The nurse, who lives in Essex, says he has been relying on neighbours and friends posting on social media to try and find out more information about the disaster.

"People are crying for food, clothes and medicine and support and hope," he says.

One woman tells how two of her sons were swept away in the flood while at a market near the border. "I only have one son left... my two sons are gone," she cries.

Another woman tells the BBC's Azadeh Moshiri that four of her relatives are missing.

Her brother, standing by her side, describes running out of his home with his wife and child. He survived, but they were washed away.

"I told her to hurry but she was locking up the house and got caught in the current," he says.

You can watch Azadeh's report below:

Katie Williams
Live reporter

Image source, Reuters

The rescue operation is in its fourth day after a deadly flash flood hit the Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday.

The death toll in Nepal has jumped again today to 626, according to the country's disaster management authority, with 2,426 reported missing - a significant jump from yesterday's figure of 1,924.

In Tibet, the official death toll is seven, with 554 reported to be missing, according to Chinese state media.

Getting information from Tibet can be difficult but China has now released some footage, with one rescuer describing a "scene of ruins".

In Nepal, at least 517 foreign nationals are reported missing, with pilgrims and trekkers among those caught up in the disaster. One man in south London who hasn't heard from his parents says: "We're just hoping and really praying that everything's ok."

Our reporter on the ground says rain has complicated rescue efforts, making it difficult to reach the worst-affected areas. There are also fears a lake formed of floodwater could cause secondary landslides.

But amid the devastation, there are stories of hope, including that of a 97-year-old woman rescued from the rubble of a care home. Her great-nephew tells the BBC she looked like "a warrior" when she was pulled alive from the ruins.

Image source, Getty Images

Nepal's finance minister has estimated the country will need between $4 billion (£2.95 billion) and $5 billion to rebuild the country after the devastating flood.

"This is just an estimate. Loss and damage is being assessed," Swarnim Wagle tells Reuters news agency.

As well as wiping away homes, the flood has destroyed key infrastructure like roads and bridges.

Hydropower plants have also been hit, with these satellite images appearing to show an industrial site reduced to virtually nothing.

Ashok Dahal and Kamal Pariyar
BBC Nepali, reporting from Nuwakot district

We are on our way to a military training school in Nuwakot district that has been converted into a search-and-rescue co-ordination hub.

Along the route, we continue to see aid trucks heading towards Nuwakot, carrying supplies for communities affected by the disaster.

We saw similar convoys on the day after the floods.

It seems the flow of relief vehicles has not slowed underlining both the scale of the need and the ongoing relief effort, with assistance continuing to be distributed from Nuwakot to affected areas.

The image below shows an aid distribution effort organised by a local hospital in partnership with a media organisation.

Azadeh Moshiri
Reporting from Trishuli, Nepal

Rain has been falling again across northern Nepal, and emergency teams are warning it’s making it difficult to reach some of the worst-affected areas.

Wednesday’s flood has swept away bridges and roads, and helicopters have been making repeated journeys back and forth to ferry survivors to safety.

Thousands of people cut off from the rest of the country have been saved so far. In neighbouring India, authorities have said seven bodies have been recovered from rivers flowing from Nepal, and they are believed to be victims of the flood.

Here in Trishuli, the military have been issuing warnings of more possible flooding.

There are fears a glacial lake formed of flood water and debris near the Nepal-Tibet border could breach its banks. But for now the greatest danger has passed, leaving the country to confront the worst disaster Nepal has seen since an earthquake in 2015.

Images of a rescued elderly woman - covered in mud and being carried in the scoop of a digger - have featured prominently in coverage of the disaster.

She is now known to be 97-year-old Guna Maya Bohara. Her doctors say she is recovering in hospital.

Speaking to BBC Nepali, her great-nephew Dipak Bohara says she looked like "a warrior" who had returned victorious from battle.

The operation to pull her out of the rubble of her care home took four hours.

Dipak Bohara travelled from Kathmandu to help rescue his great-aunt.

Pictures taken today - three days after the powerful flash flood hit - show the ongoing devastation.

In Nuwakot district in Nepal, one man was pictured collecting belongings from his damaged house.

Another could be seen surveying the destruction, as damaged buildings are covered in mud.

Meanwhile, the rescue operation continues.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

We have now had an update from Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction & Management Authority (NDRRMA).

In a social media post less than hour ago, they report 626 people are dead in Nepal, with 2,426 missing.

This is higher than the 616 death toll reported by Nepal Police a short while ago.

It is also a significant jump in the number of people missing, up from 1,924 reported by the same authority yesterday.

Officials from the Chitwan district in the Southern Central Terai of Nepal say that of the 233 bodies they've recovered from the flood so far, only four have been identified.

"The bodies/remains collected from health institutions and riverbanks are in a state of decomposition and are no longer identifiable," the District Administration Office of Chitwan says in a statement.

The remaining 229 bodies are being kept in holding centres and health institutions, the officials add, noting that DNA samples are still being collected and recorded.

China's state media has released footage of emergency personnel arriving at Gyirong Country in Tibet to help with rescue efforts.

Members of the Sichuan Fire and Rescue Mobile Corps are seen scouring the mountainous areas, with the primary task of searching for buried and missing persons.

New images from Devighat, an area in the Nuwakot region in central Nepal, show clearly the devastation and destruction of Wednesday's flash flood.

The place is known as a sacred and prominent pilgrimage site, situated at the meeting point oftheTrishuli River and Tadi River.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

The death toll in Nepal is actually 616, police in Nepal say, not 626 as reported earlier.

Chinese state media had earlier confirmed seven fatalities in Tibet. Assuming the figures don't overlap, that would take the total killed to at least 623.

Laura Bicker
China correspondent

Water levels in the lake which formed amid the debris of the landslide in Tibet are rising once again, according to Chinese state media.

There is a continued risk of secondary mudslides or landslides, the report adds.

The command team in charge of rescue efforts around Gyirong port, the main land border between Nepal and Tibet, have launched drones and set up observations posts to monitor the slopes and provide an early warning system to rescuers working nearby.

Search teams are making the most of a short weather window to try to find survivors.

Work is also underway to try to re-open the road.

Image source, Reuters

The death toll in Nepal has risen to 626, according to local police.

That's a significant jump from the last update of 579 dead, with almost 2,000 people still missing.

International aid agencies and various governments have stepped up emergency relief efforts amid reports that nearly 2,000 people are still missing after devastating floods in Nepal.

Countries including the European Union, Canada, and the United States have announced that they will send aid materials or financial assistance to Nepal.

According to a United Nations spokesperson, tens of thousands of households are in need of food and emergency drinking water.

According to Nepali officials, about 4,000 people have been rescued, while more than 500 have been confirmed dead.

China has also confirmed seven deaths, with more rain expected, making rescue and search operations more difficult.