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Rescue teams on Friday used heavy machinery to dig through mud and debris in Nepalese towns devastated by a flash flood two days ago, as hopes of finding survivors faded and officials worked to reduce the risk of further catastrophic flooding.
The confirmed death toll in Nepal rose to 469 people early on Friday, with almost 1,000 more missing there and in neighbouring Tibet, near where a glacier collapse on Wednesday morning sent a huge torrent of rock, ice, mud and debris cascading through Himalayan mountain river systems.
The flood ripped through villages and valleys, destroying power stations, roads and bridges along a route that links Kathmandu with Lhasa in Tibet and is popular with trekkers and pilgrims.
Of those missing, at least 540 are foreigners. Authorities in Nepal used helicopters to search for survivors and drop emergency supplies to thousands cut off in towns and valleys while emergency services, some using sniffer dogs, recovered dozens of bodies swept down into the plains.
