Rescue operations in Nepal continue as flooding kills nearly 580, over 2,500 people still missing

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Search and rescue operations in Nepal continued Friday in areas devastated by flash flooding.

While there have been miraculous rescues and stories of survival, as crews battle through “liquid concrete,” at least 579 people are confirmed dead and at least 2,500 people are missing, including 32 Canadians.

“This came just like a tsunami, just came going all the way up, and just like a tsunami, how it sweeps, going like a roar,” said Anjana Raja, a survivor of the flood. “It just took the buses, the houses, people, everything.”

An Indian-American couple was on a guided bus tour in Nepal when they were stopped at the China-Nepal border crossing that was seen being swallowed up by the flood wave.

Miraculously, they survived by running up the hillside.

READ MORE: Death toll surpasses 500 in Nepal floods, 30 Canadians missing

“It was so traumatizing to see that — people are screaming, but of course, water doesn’t hear anything,” said Raja. “It just, kind of, sucked them in.”

Families are desperate for answers about their loved ones, checking lists with the names of survivors at rescue camps and hospitals, and photos of those who have died on morgue walls.

“I do have a lot of friends who I can see on social media who have been missing,” said Ashmin Sharma. “I’ve been seeing their posters and stuff, but they’re still missing and no information as of yet.”

Sharma has family in Nepal, but can confirm that they are safe. He’s doing what he can to help the Hamilton Nepalese community.

“There’s nothing physically that we can do, but we are doing all that we can from the community itself — trying to navigate the emotional toll that they are going through, trying to get updates, the right updates from the right sources and also helping the community as much as we can,” said Sharma.

WATCH MORE: Search and rescue underway for over 1,400 missing people after Nepal-Tibet floods

Hamilton’s Shailesh Bhattarai’s parents are safe in Kathmandu, about 60 kilometres south of the devastation.

“It’s heartbreaking when you see the videos coming from Nepal, from our friends and family back home,” said Bhattarai. “It shows the scale of destruction very clearly, the homes, roads, entire communities being swept away.”

The catastrophic flash floods have killed nearly 600 people and left almost 2,500 missing, including 32 Canadians — 10 of them from Toronto.

“That’s why today we’re announcing that Canada is providing $5 million in humanitarian assistance to support emergency relief efforts in Nepal,” said Randeep Sarai, Canada’s Secretary of State for International Development. “The funding will help trusted humanitarian partners on the ground, such as the Red Cross, Canadian NGOs (Nongovernmental Organizations) and U.N. organizations deliver life-saving assistance to those who need it most.”

READ MORE: Canadian Red Cross helping Nepal quake victims

“As of today, we are aware of 32 Canadians, some of whom are permanent residents whose whereabouts have not yet been confirmed,” said Anita Anand, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada. “We have a 24 hour emergency watch response centre based in Ottawa that is responding to calls.”

Crews are trying to work as quickly as possible as the clock ticks in the precious 72-hour “Golden Hour” period, when there is the best chance for finding people alive.

In one dramatic rescue on Friday, men were pulled out from the tunnel of a hydropower plant, being carried and pulled across the slick mud.

The Red Cross said at least 93,000 people have been affected by the disaster, and thousands of homes have been destroyed.

WATCH MORE: Search and rescue underway for over 1,400 missing people after Nepal-Tibet floods