A massive surge of mud, rocks and water engulfing the immigration building at Gyirong on the Nepal-Tibet border provided one of the first clear indications of the scale of the flash floods that swept through towns and villages on Wednesday, killing hundreds of people.
Among those inside the immigration centre was Sridevi Vejella, the wife of Deepak Dandu and one of 80 members of Sadhguru's Isha Foundation who were returning from a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Mansarovar Lake.
Determined to find his wife, US citizen Dandu travelled from New York's John F Kennedy International Airport to Hyderabad. Speaking to CBS News, he said Sridevi was part of the group and had been inside the Gyirong immigration building when the floods struck.
Dandu recalled that the group leader had been communicating with the Isha Foundation as they entered the centre, just around 10 minutes before the disaster occurred. "The communication was completely cut off," he told CBS News.
He said he had been in regular contact with Sridevi until Tuesday. She later informed him that she was returning, but communication with her subsequently stopped completely.
Sridevi was expected to return to Hyderabad, where their 13-year-old son, who had travelled with her to India, had remained with relatives.
"He is going through a lot, hearing all the news," Dandu said about his son. "I think he is really upset. I'm trying to go there and be with him."
Emotional and close to tears, Dandu said Sridevi had always wanted to make the pilgrimage because it was a "lifetime dream" for her.
"Even I was supposed to go, but what to do...I mean, it's a tough situation," he said.
On Thursday, Isha Foundation founder Jaggi Vasudev became emotional while informing his followers that 80 members of the group's pilgrimage party were inside the immigration building shortly before it was swept away by the floodwaters. Cries and sobs from people around him could also be heard during the announcement.
"This is a terrible and an extraordinary event," he said in a video posted on his YouTube channel, visibly distressed.
He explained that the affected travellers belonged to the foundation's S3 group, whom he had met at Saga and again during their trek.
According to Vasudev, the foundation's last communication with the group leader came just minutes before the flooding.
"At 9:05 (AM), he sent a message that they have arrived at the immigration. So after that, this happened at 9:14," he said. He added that if the group had managed to cross the border, the Nepalese phones should have become active, but that did not happen.
"So literally the entire group was there in the building," he said.
The death toll from the flash floods in central Nepal climbed to 579 on Friday as rescuers recovered more bodies and search operations resumed at full scale after a brief slowdown. The pause had followed concerns about another possible flood after water levels rose in the Bhotekoshi River area.
Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority warned that the rising water levels had increased the possibility of another flood at the site of the earlier disaster.
"The water level mixed with mud has increased at the same place where the flash flood occurred on Wednesday, and there is a risk of more flooding in the area," the authority said.
It urged rescue personnel and people living in the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli regions to remain extremely cautious and move to safer locations immediately if they faced any danger.
The warning followed Wednesday's devastating flash floods that swept through Rasuwa and other parts of central Nepal, killing hundreds and causing extensive destruction to homes, roads, bridges and hydropower facilities.
Nepal Police said on Friday that 579 bodies had been recovered from eight districts, while thousands of people remained missing.
Police reported 233 bodies recovered from Chitwan, 154 from Nawalparasi East, 46 from Gorkha and 40 from Dhading. Another 37 were recovered from Nuwakot, 30 from Tanahu, 27 from Nawalparasi West and 12 from Rasuwa. Chinese authorities separately reported five deaths in Gyirong County in Tibet's Autonomous Region.
Since the floods struck on Wednesday morning, at least 1,924 people have been reported missing, including 86 security personnel, 517 foreign tourists and 127 Nepali travellers.
Authorities said 1,545 people who were injured or stranded had been rescued from different affected areas. Another 84 people were receiving treatment at hospitals in Kathmandu, while families continued searching for missing relatives.
