Flooding in Nepal: 616 dead and nearly 2,000 missing

The death toll from the devastating flash flood that struck Nepal on Wednesday has reached 616 people, BBC News reports, citing police.

At least seven more people died in Tibet, and 554 are listed as missing.

According to Nepal's disaster relief agency, at least 1,924 people are missing in the country. Among them are at least 517 foreign nationals. At the same time, figures from different agencies differ substantially and continue to change rapidly.

According to local officials, the powerful flood wave was caused by the collapse of a glacier. The flow of water passed through populated areas, destroying homes and roads, and also wiped out an important border crossing between Nepal and Tibet.