India, Sept. 4 -- With over 4,000 still missing due to devastating flash floods in Nepal, families perform symbolic funeral rites for their relatives after receiving no information about them for eight days, even as the death toll surges to 1,259 on Thursday.

The flash floods, triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26, devastated towns and villages in northern and central Nepal, leaving a trail of destruction.

According to the data released by Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), the death toll from the Bhotekoshi River floods surged to 1,252 on Thursday, with 4,216 still missing.

In Paharebesi village of Rasuwa district, residents have begun preparing to perform ...