Man's brother, uncle and cousin die in Nepal flash floods

A Nepalese man living in Aberdeen has told BBC Scotland News he lost three close family members in the deadly flash floods that hit his home country on Wednesday.

Barun Lamichhane, 26, said his brother, uncle and cousin all died in the disaster - but that his mother, father and grandmother managed to escape.

Lamichhane said they managed to get away by "crawling like a baby" into the hillside.

More than 350 people have died, with more than 1,000 reported to be missing.

The deadly flood happened near the Nepal-Tibet border early on Wednesday.

Preliminary information suggested it had been caused by an earthquake.

However the US Geological Survey later said additional analysis indicated that the "seismic energy was instead generated by a landslide".

Lamichhane is from the village of Betrawati, which was one of the many areas badly affected.

He graduated from the University of the West of Scotland in International Events Management a few weeks ago.

He said: "I was sleeping and my sister woke me up and said 'in our village there is nothing - like everything is gone'.

"At that time, I'm just a blank, I can't even think.

"They are saying that our home, everything, is gone. Nothing is left."

Lamichhane said he fears he has also lost many more friends and neighbours in the disaster as well as his brother, uncle and cousin.

He said his mother, Tulasha Lamichhane, father, Netra Prasad Lamichhane, and grandmother, Krishna Kumari Lamichhane, escaped.

They were all in different locations when the flood hit.

"Luckily they are alive," he said.

He said they were now sheltering in a school that is being used as a refuge for those who survived.

Lamichhane said he "can't express" the pain he is feeling.

Thirty-three people from the UK, including a 13-year-old girl and 14-year-old boy, are among the hundreds who are missing following the deadly floods.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the UK had offered £5m to help the Nepalese government , saying it was a "very distressing and devastating situation".

The UK Foreign Office said it was working closely with Nepalese authorities "following concerning reports of British nationals who are missing".

It has encouraged Brits to follow local guidance and "remain alert to the changing situation".

Dramatic CCTV footage showed a wall of water and mud hitting buildings near a border crossing.

And video filmed from inside a bus in Trishuli captured dozens of people trying to flee a flood surge that was surging through the valley.