Four French nationals missing in Nepal and Tibet floods

Rescue efforts are underway in Nepal and Tibet to find nearly 3,000 people missing after devastating floods and mudslides killed at least 633.

Among the missing are four French nationals, three women and one man aged between 34 and 47. Their names were released by the Nepalese Ministry of Tourism.

Three of the French citizens were on a pilgrimage organized by the Trekkers Society agency. The group's guide sent a final message from the border post between China and Nepal before the mudslide struck, and no further contact has been made.

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We are just in distress, we are waiting. I think the worst part is the waiting.

Betty Benredouanne, 47, from Marseille, was one of the pilgrims. Her friend described her as being on an "important spiritual journey." "We are just in distress, we are waiting. I think the worst part is the waiting," the friend told BFMTV.

Another missing person is Kateryna Duzenko, a 38-year-old Franco-Ukrainian woman who was also on a spiritual trip. Her relatives have not heard from her. Duzenko had worked for over 10 years with the French association Yahad-In Unum, which locates mass grave sites of victims of Nazi atrocities. The association's president described her as a "very committed, joyful but serious young woman" who had left the organization two years prior to pursue Buddhism. She had been working in a Paris bakery to fund her travels and this was her second trip to Nepal for hiking.

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She was very committed, joyful but serious young woman.