Rescue helicopters have been flying survivors to safety from flood-hit areas of Nepal, as the scale of destruction became clearer and authorities continued searching for hundreds of people still missing.
Some survivors were carried out on stretchers, while others were helped into helicopters with support from rescuers.
The aircraft landed repeatedly on a football field inside a military cantonment in the town of Bidur, where dust filled the air as rescue operations continued.
Among those evacuated was customs agent Omkar Joshi, 35, who spent the night stranded on a hilltop in the border town of Timure. He said the town had been almost completely swept away by water, mud and debris.
“Everything is finished,” Joshi told AFP, describing Timure as a vast graveyard. He said many residents survived by climbing nearby hills as floodwaters rushed through the valley.
A tsunami-like surge of water and mud tore through communities along Nepal’s Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers on Wednesday. Police have recovered 270 bodies so far, while rescue teams continue to look for missing people.
The US Geological Survey said the disaster was triggered by a glacial collapse that sent a massive flow of icy debris downstream. Foreign tourists are among those reported missing.
In Bidur, the rescue effort has also become a desperate wait for families searching for relatives who have not returned.
Sita BK, 37, travelled to the area looking for her younger brother Ramchandra, a schoolteacher in Timure. She said she spoke to him shortly before learning about the disaster, but his phone has since been switched off.
Another resident, 24-year-old Anisha Nepali, returned from Kathmandu after hearing about the floods but has yet to receive information about her mother and younger brother.
The evacuation has brought moments of relief amid the devastation. Two schoolgirls in bright green uniforms were among those brought out by helicopter. A rescuer helped them to safety, giving them biscuits and water.
The destruction was also evident downstream in Devighat, where residents said only one of about 150 houses along the Trishuli River remained standing.
The surviving building, a four-storey old-age care centre, was also hit by a landslide, with rescuers saying as many as seven elderly residents may have been buried while trying to escape.
Residents said warnings about floodwaters rushing down from the mountains helped some people survive.
“Many of us could save our lives but everything else is gone,” local resident Sabir Miyan said. “It is all ruins now.”
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