Nepal ⁠suspended search and rescue efforts on Saturday due to bad weather and called for technical help to cope with the devastating floods that tore through an area near the border with China's Tibet.So far, 626 people have been confirmed dead, while 2,426 remain unaccounted for, including hundreds of tourists and pilgrims from India, Malaysia, the US, Britain and other countries.China said the death toll in Tibet was seven, with 554 people missing."Search and ​rescue operations have been temporarily halted because it is raining and the weather is foggy," said Narendra Pariyar, the chief district officer for Nepal's Rasuwa district. He added that the focus was on arranging transport to evacuate the rescued to Kathmandu.Nepal calls for assistanceNepal has mobilised more than 15,000 military and police personnel to take part in challenging rescue missions, including in settlements steeped in sludge and at hydropower plants where workers have been trapped in tunnels.Officials said the country needed assistance from overseas in rescuing flood victims trapped in tunnels and opening transport and communication lines in places where bridges have been destroyed. "We have already made requests for such specialised services and technical assistance in areas where ‌we don't have enough expertise and technical know-how," said Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal. He added that the country also needed help with DNA testing, storage and formal identification of recovered bodies.Families wait for newsPhotos of people reported missing are seen at a teaching hospital in Kathmandu. Getty ImagesShow caption: Photos of people reported missing are seen at a teaching hos…Dozens of survivors were being treated at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in the capital. The walls were papered with photographs of the dead and missing, while more than 60 people had gathered to wait for news of their loved ones, whose details they had registered with police officers camped nearby.“There is not much hope,” said Resham Tamang, 28, who has been going to the hospital daily in search of five missing friends and relatives who had been working in Rasuwa.“It’s already been four days and there’s been no contact."A tour operator in Kathmandu told The National of his desperate search for dozens of trekkers and staff members – including his own brother – who remained missing.Gopal Thapa, Managing Director from Leaf Holidays, Treks and Expeditions. Shazia Ahmed / The NationalShow caption: Gopal Thapa, Managing Director from Leaf Holidays, Treks and…Gopal Thapa, managing director of Leaf Holidays, Treks and Expeditions, said 55 people travelling with his company were still missing – 46 clients and nine employees. Among them is his 34-year-old brother, who was guiding the group and is a father of two.“I spoke to my brother at around 8.30am Nepal time [on Wednesday, August 26],” Mr Thapa told The National. “After that there is no connection.”The family of an Indian-American woman among the missing is clinging to hope that she will be found safe and well.Play01:33Family desperately search for Boston woman after floodsJiwan Jyoti, an engineer from Boston, travelled to Nepal on a pilgrimage to mark her 50th birthday. She was last known to be at Hotel Kailash in Rasuwagadhi, near the Chinese border.“The last thing we want is for them to give up hope,” a family member said. “For that 1 per cent hope, we don't want the officials to give up on the situation.”Relief from IndiaIndia has sent three flights carrying about 60 tonnes of relief material to Nepal, including blankets, medicine, food and water purification tablets. It also plans to send a tunnel rescue team and a medical team.New Delhi has also offered its disaster response force and prefabricated bridges ⁠to help restore connectivity, the Foreign Ministry said.On Saturday, Nepal's Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle estimated that the country would need about $4 to $5 billion to rebuild after the destruction caused by the flood.After a glacier collapsed, a huge torrent of rock, ice, mud and debris crashed through mountain river systems, killing hundreds and destroying buildings, bridges and power stations in its path.Risk of lake bursting banks wanesPlay00:07Drone footage showing mud and water flowing into Himalayan lake highlights renewed flood riskRescue efforts were halted briefly on Saturday when a lake formed by the flood began to overflow into Nepal's Lhende Khola and Trishuli rivers.The lake is one of two upstream of the flood zone that authorities in Nepal and China are monitoring. Flood risks will persist until both have fully drained, an official warned.On Saturday, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported that one of the lakes was receding, but government experts warned that it might be unstable, and added that over 100 glacial lakes scattered in the area could also pose a threat.China's Water Resources Ministry said satellite images of the lake showed that it was ‌99,000 square metres in size on early Saturday morning – about the size of 14 football pitches – having shrunk ​by 21,000 square metres since Thursday.-With agencies