Death toll from catastrophic flooding in Nepal and China passes 1,000

A drone view shows rescue workers inspect the area and damaged structures following recent flash flooding (Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP)

The death toll from catastrophic flooding in Nepal and China passed 1,000 on Tuesday, authorities said, as rescue teams worked to reach communities cut off by the disaster.

Nepal’s disaster agency said on Tuesday that 987 deaths had been counted there, with 3,916 people missing, including 583 foreigners.

Chinese authorities reported 16 deaths in their most recent update on Sunday.

At least 11,814 people have been rescued so far, according to Nepalese authorities.

Emergency crews have been using helicopters and other aircraft to reach stranded communities in areas where roads and bridges have been destroyed by the flooding and landslides.

The August 26 disaster began with a chain of events high in the Himalayas.

A glacial collapse sent large amounts of rock, ice and meltwater into valleys below, triggering powerful floods downstream.

Scientists studying satellite imagery said the collapse appears to have involved the failure of bedrock beneath a glacier in the Himalayan region.

The rockfall was powerful enough to register as a magnitude 5.2 seismic event.

The resulting surge of water and debris entered rivers that flow through valleys in Tibet and Nepal, causing them to rise rapidly.

Floodwaters swept away homes, buildings, roads and bridges and carried mud and rocks downstream.