The Indian Air Force has launched a massive rescue operation in Uttarakhand's Lamkhaga Pass, at an altitude of 17,000 feet, where 17 trekkers, including tourists, porters, and guides, lost their way on October 18 due to heavy snowfall and floods, NDTV said.  Eleven bodies have been recovered so far from the area leading to the Lamkhaga Pass - one of the most treacherous passes connecting the Kinnaur district in Himachal Pradesh with Harsil in Uttarakhand.

According to Reuters and BBC, more than 180 people have died after heavy rainfall triggered flash floods in Nepal and two Indian states - Uttarakhand and Kerala.

Homes were submerged or crushed by rocks swept into them by landslides. At least 88 people died in Nepal and 55 in Uttarakhand, including five from a single family, with dozens more missing in both nations.

The Indian Air Force responded to an SOS call and deployed two Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) choppers to reach Harsil, a hill station in the state. The search and rescue began on October 20 with three personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) onboard the ALH craft at its maximum permissible altitude of 19,500 feet, and managed to rescue some people and find at least nine bodies of the trekkers till last reports came in. 

In Uttarakhand, schools have been closed and religious and tourist activities suspended. The Ganga river burst its bank in Rishikesh, the Hindu pilgrim site and the Nainital tourist district was severely affected.

In Nepal the victims included a family of six, among them three children, whose house was buried in a sudden deluge of soil and debris.The worst-affected areas are Panchthar district in east Nepal, and Ilam and Doti in west Nepal. Rescuers were struggling to reach 60 people stranded for two days in the village of Seti in west Nepal, Reuters reported.

Rains further south in India's Kerala state also triggered deadly floods, leaving another 42 dead there, BBC said.