Emergency workers searched through mud and debris for a sixth day Monday as the number of missing crossed 5,000 after glacial floods surged from the China-Nepal border, causing what officials called an "unimaginable" disaster.
The latest confirmed death toll surged above 900, but the number of those unaccounted for is also climbing – with unidentified bodies buried in mass graves after DNA sampling.
The huge wave of freezing water, rocks and debris that smashed into villages and towns Wednesday killed at least 903 people in Nepal and in Tibet, in China, with at least 17 bodies pulled from rivers downstream in India.
Late Sunday, Nepali Prime Minster Balendra Shah called the disaster "unimaginable and heartbreaking."
Rescue teams are in a race against time in treacherous conditions in a bid to free dozens of hydropower workers believed trapped in tunnels – digging, drilling and blasting through debris, a non-stop effort supported by teams from China, India and South Korea.
