Water rose 30 feet and at least 160 people were killed, while hundreds of others, including scores of Kailash Mansar-ovar pilgrims from India, remained missing after a flash flood and mudslide of unprecedented scale in Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers tore through a part of Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday morning.
Nepal police have recovered 157 bodies and officers are working towards moving families from flood-risk areas.
Some 403 tourists, 341 of them foreigners, were unaccounted for several hours after the disaster struck, according to the tourism ministry.
The missing foreigners included 142 Indians, as well as others from Australia, Britain, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea and the United States, the tourism board said.
Nepalese rescuers are racing against time to find survivors and bodies buried under the slush, with Prime Minister Balendra Shah pledging all government resources to relief work.
