British response team heads to Nepal as flood death toll surges past 600

At least 616 people have died and nearly 2,500 remain unaccounted for across Nepal, according to the country’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.

Thirty-three British nationals are believed to be among those missing, including a 13-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy.

The disaster was triggered by a glacier collapse on Wednesday and has devastated the Rasuwa district near Nepal’s border with Tibet.

Helicopter search-and-rescue missions were grounded on Saturday amid worsening weather conditions.

Destroyed bridges and around 25 miles of damaged roads have also severely hampered efforts to reach some of the worst-hit areas.

Chinese state media separately reported 554 people missing across the border in Tibet.

The British team will support UK nationals at the airport, help families searching for missing loved ones and bolster existing consular operations.

Its deployment forms part of a wider £5million UK humanitarian aid package for relief and recovery efforts through the UN, Red Cross and NGOs.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said: "The scenes from Nepal are devastating, and our thoughts remain with everyone affected."

"The safety and welfare of British nationals is our top priority. That is why we are deploying a Rapid Deployment Team to Nepal to provide additional support on the ground for British nationals and their families at what is an incredibly difficult time."

"We will continue to do everything we can to support British nationals impacted by this tragedy."

Several missing Britons had been travelling on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash when the floods struck.

The Trekkers’ Society said nine British travellers on one of its tours remain uncontacted, while another seven travelling with Kailash Journeys have not been located.

Rescuers are meanwhile battling to reach a hydropower construction site where more than 100 workers are feared trapped inside a tunnel engulfed by mud.

Fears of further flooding have also been raised by a lake formed following the glacier collapse, although its water level fell by 10 metres between Thursday and Friday morning, according to China’s Ministry of Water Resources.

Bishal Nath Upreti, president of the Nepal Centre for Disaster Management, described the devastation as a "tsunami from the sky", saying entire villages had been "completely wiped out".

Essex nurse Rajendra Pudasaini, who heads the Non-Resident Nepali Association UK, said his own relatives were "swept away" by the floodwaters.

Speaking to GB News, he said the situation remained “really, really scary” as the death toll from the disaster continues to rise.

He has launched a fundraising campaign and said that Nepal was suffering an "irreplaceable loss" following the disaster.