Nepal and China have both warned of fresh risks of flooding in the Himalayas as two lakes that have developed on either side of their border threaten to burst in a region grappling with a catastrophic flood.
Search and rescue operations are still underway in the debris-strewn valleys and hillsides, with nearly 1000 people - including dozens of Australians -missing after Wednesday's flood struck the border regions of Nepal and China's Tibet, killing at least 362 people, according to police.
Both countries have blamed the flood on a glacier collapse that pushed rock, ice, mud and debris into river systems in the mountains.
The tally of missing in Tibet's Gyirong county was 558, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said on Thursday, including 260 foreigners.
China said the death toll stayed at three.
In Nepal, 667 people were missing.
The missing foreigners in Nepal belonged to more than two dozen countries, including 288 from India, 63 from the United States, 53 from Ukraine, 51 from Malaysia, 35 from Australia, 33 from the United Kingdom, 25 from Canada and five from New Zealand.
The Nepal Tourism Board said that 31 foreigners who had previously been reported missing had been rescued.
They included two Italians and a Swiss citizen.
Nepal's disaster authority issued a notice on Thursday warning that a lake formed by debris blocking a river at the flood site is rising and at risk of bursting.
"Residents of the lower banks ... passengers, rescuers engaged in rescue operations, and all concerned are requested to exercise special caution and stay in safe places away from the river banks and risky areas," the authority said.
China warned that three million cubic metres of water - the equivalent of about 1200 Olympic swimming pools - are expected to flow into an already dammed lake on its side of the border over the next three days, creating a high risk of a breach, with peak flow expected on Tuesday.
The formation of a barrier lake was captured in aerial footage by a Chinese rescue team on Thursday, state broadcaster CGTN reported.
The footage showed masses of brown water accumulating in a basin with no visible outlet.
The water had already submerged bushes and trees and appeared to push against a barrier of debris and stones.
Rainfall forecast over the coming week will exacerbate the threat, Chinese state media said, citing the Chinese water resources ministry.
"The volume of water is continuing to increase, and so is the risk," Zhu Jinfeng, a researcher at the water resources ministry's hydrology department, told state broadcaster CCTV.
Heeding the warning, some rescue workers in Nepal began moving towards higher ground on Thursday.
Among them was Pawan Koirala, who began moving away from the river bed along with his team of 13 after the warning was issued.
with AP and DPA
