Nepal marks day of mourning as rescue operations continue after floods kill 1,300
Nepal observed a national day of mourning on the 13th day since flash floods killed more than 1,300 people, with about 5,000 still missing. Rescuers keep searching hydropower sites where hundreds of workers remain trapped or unaccounted for.
Nepal held an official day of mourning on Monday, the 13th day since the devastating flash floods of 26 August. Government buildings lowered their flags while grieving families carried out traditional mourning rites. According to Nepal's disaster management agency, the floods have killed more than 1,300 people across Nepal and Tibet, while around 5,000, including foreign nationals, remain missing.
In Hindu-majority Nepal, mourning traditionally lasts 13 days, during which close relatives stay home while others visit to offer condolences. On the final day, rituals are performed to pray for the souls of the deceased. Some families whose loved ones have not been found have already held symbolic funeral ceremonies, since cremation is considered an essential final rite in Hindu tradition, and performing it — even without a body — can bring families a sense of closure.
In Kathmandu, relatives gathered outside the offices of the prime minister and key ministries, urging authorities to accelerate search and rescue efforts for hundreds of hydropower workers who were swept away by the surging Bhotekhoshi river or buried under debris.
Focus on tunnel rescues
Rescuers pulled a Chinese national from a power plant on Saturday, after freeing two Nepalese workers from the same site on Friday. Operations are increasingly concentrated on 12 hydropower projects, where roughly 900 workers are unaccounted for and about 500 are believed trapped in tunnels.
Australian tunnelling expert Arnold Dix, president of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association, said Monday the disaster presented an unprecedented challenge, with multiple dangerous rescue operations unfolding simultaneously across different sites.
Nepal Army spokesman Raja Ram Basnet told AFP that rescue efforts continue at the same pace as on day one, operating on three fronts — ground, air and underground tunnels. The rescue of three workers from deep inside tunnels over the weekend raised hopes that more survivors could still be found. Specialised teams from India, China, South Korea and the United States are taking part in the search. Dix, who advised on the 2023 rescue of workers trapped in India's collapsed Silkyara tunnel, said the experience taught him never to confuse the unlikely with the impossible.
