Nepal flood death toll rises to 392 amid new warnings

Nepal faces a worsening disaster as floodwaters continue to rise, with the death toll climbing to 392 and over 900 people unaccounted for. Authorities in both Nepal and China have issued urgent warnings of new floods, as overflowing lakes pose an imminent threat of bursting and inundating already devastated areas.

Among the missing are at least 35 Australians, including families and children, who were on various tours in the affected regions. Venkatraman Balakrishnan, 52, and his wife Chitra Venkatraman, 46, from Western Sydney, were part of a hiking tour in the Langtang Valley, which included two boys aged 11 and 14. Other Australians were reported missing with different tour companies and on pilgrimages.

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It is really helpless, hopeless, but we are building our confidence to find people with our team and our Nepal government.

Rescuers are engaged in a desperate search through deep mud, pulling both survivors and bodies from the wreckage of entire villages swept away by the floods. Hundreds of people, including foreign citizens from India, South Korea, and the United States, have been rescued and taken to overwhelmed hospitals in Kathmandu. Lists of missing persons and photos of the deceased line the hospital walls as families anxiously search for news.

Volunteers like Preksha KC are assisting at the hospital, despite her own uncle being missing. "It is really helpless, hopeless, but we are building our confidence to find people with our team and our Nepal government," she told ABC News. Ranjana Poudel is also searching for her brother-in-law, who lost contact while near the Nepal-China border. The ongoing threat of new floods looms large as the region grapples with the devastating aftermath of the initial disaster.

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Last time he spoke to his family it was 8:15, and he said he would enter China by 10. But after that we had no contact with him.