At Least 682 People Have Died in Catastrophic Flooding in the Border Region Between Nepal and Tibet, Nepalese Authorities Said Saturday

Seven deaths have also been confirmed on the Chinese side of the border in Tibet. More than 100 people remain trapped in a tunnel at a hydropower plant in Nepal's Rasuwa district. Late Saturday, rescue crews finally managed to install an air pipe down to those trapped.

"We have started pumping air through the small opening, and will now begin excavation work to send in a rescue team, said Nepal's Interior Minister Sudan Gurung. Over 3,500 people are still missing after Wednesday's disaster, which was likely caused by a glacier collapse that sent ice falling more than 5,000 meters into a valley. The collapse was so large that the rumble was initially recorded as a 5.2-magnitude earthquake.

Rescue worker Kawan Koirala from Nepal's scout disaster team described conditions as very difficult, with crews struggling in thick, deep, quicksand-like mud. "People want their family members back, dead or alive, but we can't find them, he told. This is the first time I've seen anything like this.

Everywhere is mud. We've had floods in Nepal before, but not like this. A specialized rescue team from neighboring India has been deployed, and Chinese rescue forces are reportedly on their way, according to Nepal's Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal.

Nepal has requested assistance from neighboring countries. National disaster authorities suspect the tsunami-like mud wave may have washed bodies as far as India. Norway is contributing 10 million kroner in emergency aid, the foreign ministry said Thursday.