Nepal is holding a national day of mourning on Monday, the 13th day since floods killed at least 1,380 people after a glacier-triggered collapse on August 26. Government offices and Nepalese missions abroad are flying the national flag at half-mast while search teams continue looking for survivors.
Why the mourning day has no public programme
The Ministry of Home Affairs said the day coincides with the final day of the Hindu mourning period. Close family members traditionally remain at home while relatives visit, followed by rituals to pray for those who died.
The government has not organised wider events because rescue and search operations are still under way in flood-hit areas and resources remain limited, according to Phanindra Paudel of Nepal’s National Emergency Operation Center. For additional context, see “Rescuers search hydropower tunnels after Nepal floods kill more than 1,270”.
Search teams recover four people
In recent days, rescuers pulled four people from debris and tunnels. Those rescued included a Chinese national found at a hydropower site, two hydropower workers recovered from another tunnel and a Nepali woman pulled from her buried home.
The disaster began when a huge wall of mud and rock collapsed into a river along the Himalayan border of Nepal and China’s Tibet region. The flooding left more than 5,500 people missing, according to the authorities cited in the report.
Families demand faster searches at hydropower sites
In Kathmandu, relatives gathered near the offices of the prime minister and key ministries, calling for a faster response for workers swept away by the Bhotekoshi River or buried by debris. About 900 workers are missing across 12 hydropower projects, and roughly 500 are believed to be trapped in tunnels. A related part of this story is covered in “Nepal flood disaster leaves thousands missing as rescue access remains difficult”.
Sumana Shrestha said her husband, a consulting geologist, disappeared after working at the Trishuli hydropower plant, where a two-and-a-half-storey project office was buried. Mahesh Prasad Shrestha said his brother, an engineer at the same site, was also missing and urged authorities to bring in larger helicopters and equipment.
Specialised teams from India, China, South Korea and the United States are searching damaged structures, debris and tunnels at the affected projects. The development of this issue can be followed in “Two Nepal hydropower workers pulled alive from flooded tunnel”.
What happens next
President Ram Chandra Paudel is touring flood-hit areas on Monday to survey damage from the disaster, according to an aide.
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