Following the catastrophic Himalayan flood, over 1,300 people are missing in China and Nepal.

According to authorities, a massive landslide of dirt and rock into a Himalayan river caused devastating floods over local towns and valleys, leaving over 1,300 people—including over 700 foreign nationals—missing throughout Nepal and China’s Tibet area. Over 500 foreigners were among the 823 persons reported missing in Nepal, according to confirmation from Nepalese police and tourism officials on Thursday. While Chinese state media claimed at least three deaths in Tibet, police in Nepal said they had found at least 270 dead.

Of the almost two dozen countries where tourists have gone missing, 177 are from India, 63 are from the United States, 34 are from Australia, 33 are from the United Kingdom, and 25 are from Canada. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reports that 558 individuals, including 260 foreign nationals, are missing in Tibet’s Gyirong county across the border.

Helicopters have been used by Nepalese rescuers to look for survivors and deliver essential supplies to thousands of people who have been cut off in a rough hilly region that is well-known to hikers and pilgrims journeying between Lhasa, Tibet, and Kathmandu, the country’s capital.

While homes, roads, and power infrastructure were wrecked downstream in Nepal, video footage confirmed by news agencies showed swift torrents of water and debris carrying away dozens of people at a border crossing in Gyirong. According to Army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet, helicopters were delivering food, medication, and tents from adjacent India to the worst affected areas.

According to his office on social media, Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah travelled by road to Bidur, one of Nuwakot’s worst-affected districts, to examine the flood situation. According to early accounts from Nepalese officials, the flash floods may have been caused by a glacier’s bottom portion collapsing due to an earthquake in the region. The US Geological Survey pointed out that the seismic event, which was first reported as a magnitude 4.4 earthquake, was actually the result of the abrupt collapse of glacial rock and ice, followed by a massive debris flow.

According to CCTV, Chinese authorities issued a warning that a lake that is still dammed in Gyirong, upstream from the border crossing impacted by the flood, presents additional risks and may make rescue operations in the area extremely difficult. Many of the victims of the accident were travelling to Lake Mansarovar and Mount Kailash, two high-altitude locations in Tibet that are revered by Buddhists, Hindus, and adherents of other religions.

In a video message posted on social media from Tibet, well-known Indian spiritual teacher Sadhguru, whose true name is Jagdish Vasudev, stated that about 77 Hindu pilgrims were at the Nepal-China border immigration office when the flood struck on Wednesday. The pilgrims were travelling to Mount Kailash as part of a number of Hindu groups organised by the Isha Foundation of Sadhguru.