Nepal flood death toll climbs to 1,259

Devastating floods on the China-Nepal border have killed at least 1,259 people in Nepal, the disaster authority said Thursday, reporting a sharp rise in the number of missing, at 5,083.

Chinese state media reported 21 people killed in Tibet and 541 missing, taking the total toll from the August 26 disaster to 1,280 dead and 5,624 missing.

Nearly 600 foreigners from over 30 nationalities are also missing, with Indians making up one of the largest proportions.

Some 75 Americans are also unaccounted for, according to the State Department on Wednesday.

In Kathmandu, desperate families of some of the missing foreigners said they were combing hospitals and morgues for any information about their loved ones.

"I feel desperate; it's been so many days," said 53-year-old American Sanjeev Rai, who flew to Nepal after learning that his wife was untraceable.

The floods, which tore through mountain districts, have destroyed roads, bridges and other infrastructure, hampering relief efforts.

Aid agencies said they were considering deploying porters to deliver aid to hard-hit districts close to the border with China.

"We've been discussing with the government how also to use helicopters and cargo drones to be able to deliver aid," Lila Pieters Yahia, the UN resident coordinator for Nepal, told reporters in Kathmandu.

"The beauty of your country (is) you have porters. So we have to go back into also those very simple means to bring the aid as soon as possible."

Long considered the backbone of trekking and mountaineering expeditions in Nepal, porters are known to carry heavy loads for days across steep trails in tough conditions.

Nepali army personnel and rescue teams, including foreign experts, meanwhile continued to search Thursday for survivors feared trapped inside several hydropower tunnels.

The work is ongoing using excavators and other heavy equipment to look for any survivors in the tunnels, the army said.