Hundreds dead in Nepal flood disaster as devastated British families try to contact loved ones

Hundreds dead in Nepal flood disaster as devastated British families try to contact loved ones A 13-year-old British girl and 14-year-old boy are among those missing after a “tsunami from the sky” battered the area following a glacier collapse on Wednesday morning Nearly 400 people have been killed and 1,300 are reported missing - including 33 Brits - following the deadly flash flooding near the Nepal-Tibet border. Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said more than 1,300 people are missing, including dozens of Brits. The Nepal Tourism Board said 644 tourists are "out of contact" and the most recent update from the Nepali police said the number of injured and rescued stands at 466. Nepali officials described the harrowing scenes on Wednesday as "devastation beyond imagination" after a wall of water 650ft high swept down a valley in the Rasuwa region, north of the capital Kathmandu. Entire villages were swept away in moments after the glacial collapse sparked floods in the mountainous region popular with pilgrims and trekkers. The number of people killed in the floods stands at 389, although it is expected to rise in the coming days. Rescue teams have located bodies hundreds of miles away from the disaster zone. Missing Brits Devastated Brits have attempted to find any information they can about loved ones who visited the region. Among the missing are a 13-year-old British girl and 14-year-old boy are among those missing following the glacier collapse on Wednesday morning. Senior Darent Valley Hospital nurse Sarada Simkhada, from Dartford, Kent, left for the country last Saturday for a holy trip. She moved to Britain more than 20 years ago and is known as a hard-working member of her team, a friend told reporters. Sunil Amin, from Croydon, said he last heard from his wife Hema Amin on Monday, at around 4.30pm, after she travelled out to Nepal with her sister, Hemangini Pate, over the weekend. He told Sky News: “I keep trying to call her. I've been trying, trying, trying.” He said the two sisters had started a pilgrimage to Gosainkunda lake that was supposed to last until September 4. But after the flash floods struck he had been repeatedly trying to get in touch with her, with no success. When he tries to call it just rings out or doesn’t get through, he said, adding: “We are waiting for replies but nothing is coming through. We're having no joy. “We just can't get any answers from there, that's another problem. It’s a remote place, and we do understand it’s been devastation. We hope it's good news, but we don't know exactly what happened to them.” Desperate search for family Pramod Pudel who lives in East Sussex but is originally from Nepal, said “nothing remains” where his family lives and he is flying out to search for his wife, mum, brother and uncle. He told the BBC: “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. A lot of people are missing and there is no information regarding who is missing, where they are. Nobody can contact each other and all the bridges are broken, so you can't cross the land. “There’s no power, no electricity, so I can't contact anyone, so it's a very difficult time not knowing what's happening.” Excursion company Alpine Eco Trek, which offers guided expeditions and tours in Nepal, said it has not been able to establish contact with a group of 12 Britons who were booked on a tour to Mount Kailash, and were in the region when the flash floods struck. The age of the missing British citizens ranges from 13 to 65. Manager Kumar Adhikari said: “I feel so sad. We are just thinking about what to do next...We are in pain at the moment, deep pain.” The Trekkers' Society, which organises tours in Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan, said nine UK nationals on a pilgrimage are missing after they crossed the Nepal-Tibet border. It said four males, aged between 14 and 50, and five females aged 40 - 53 remained unaccounted for. Himalayan Glacier US said they had lost contact with a group of 47 guests and staff - including two Brits - who were also making a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, which is considered the spiritual home of the Hindu god Shiva. Two other firms, Kailash Journeys and Fishtail Tours, said Brits were among those missing on their tours. King Charles 'heartbroken' King Charles said he and the Queen were “heartbroken” and sent their “most profound sympathy” to those affected He said: “Many in the United Kingdom have strong, deep and personal ties to this part of the world. We send our most profound sympathy to all those who have so tragically lost their loved ones and we feel deeply for the many families awaiting anxiously the news of friends and relations.” PM Andy Burnham said the UK has offered £5m to help the Nepalese government following the floods, saying it was a “very distressing and devastating situation”. He said: “These are such distressing scenes coming out of Nepal. And we feel for the people there and everything that they're going through at this moment in time, such devastation of communities and already, sadly, it seems such a huge loss of life.” Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said he had spoken to his Nepali counterpart, and said the country would do all it could to “help Nepal in its hour of need”. In a joint statement with Australia, the EU, Finland, France, Norway and Switzerland, the UK embassy in Nepal urged British nationals to “exercise caution in affected areas”. Tom Fletcher, the UN’s humanitarian chief, described the flood as “horrifying”. He said emergency teams had been mobilised and an initial $2m (£1.5m) of disaster funds allocated to cover emergency medical care, shelter and water. Moment 'seismic' flash flood hit The flood hit early on Wednesday in Rasuwa with preliminary information suggested it was caused by an earthquake. But the Geological Survey said additional analysis indicated "the seismic energy was instead generated by a landslide." It said a magnitude 5.2 seismic event caused by a “glacial collapse and debris flow” occurred near the border at 08:37 local time on Wednesday. Dramatic CCTV footage showed a wall of water and mud hitting buildings near a border crossing and video filmed from inside a bus in Trishuli captured dozens of people trying to flee a flood surge that was surging through the valley. Footage showed trucks being overturned and houses, roads and power plants swept away. The president of the Nepal Centre for Disaster Management said the floods were like a "tsunami from the sky" and villages have been "completely wiped out. Bishal Nath Upretti told BBC Radio 4's Today programme today: "That was an earthquake, and this is a kind of flood. We call it flood, but actually it’s a kind of a debris flow dam collapse." He continued: "It was such a huge amount of water. You can imagine it is 20 million cubic meters excess water on the river, and it was like a tsunami from the sky. "It's such a huge debris, and everything on the way was completely washed out. Villages and villages along the almost 40 to 50 kilometres were completely wiped out."