Nepal Flood Death Toll Tops 1,200, Leaving Survivors Nowhere to Mourn

The floods along the Nepal-Tibet border have left survivors facing a painful disruption to one of Nepal’s most sacred obligations: mourning the dead. Families of more than 1,200 victims have lost their homes, and many cannot find a place to complete the traditional 13-day period of seclusion known as kriya.

Nepal’s disaster management agency said Thursday that the death toll had reached 1,252, up from 1,204 reported the previous day. The number of missing people stood at 4,216, while 11,993 people had been rescued. Authorities in Tibet, which is controlled by Beijing, reported 21 deaths and said the whereabouts of another 541 people remained unknown, bringing the toll on both sides of the border to at least 1,273.

The agency said it had handed only 95 bodies to families. Authorities are cataloguing and burying the remaining bodies and human remains in mass graves after collecting DNA samples. Without the bodies of their relatives, some families have held symbolic funerals, burning figures made from sacred kusa grass to stand in for the dead and allow their souls to find peace.

The disaster has made the required mourning rituals even harder. Floodwaters destroyed more than 7,000 homes, according to The Kathmandu Post, leaving survivors without suitable shelter. Religious rules prohibit families from carrying out the rites in relatives’ homes or rented rooms, so they have sought places in kiriyaputri mourning houses near temples in Kathmandu. Those facilities are full, and administrators have had to turn people away even after adding tents. Families also face shortages of LPG cylinders needed to prepare their own meals during mourning.

Local media reported acts of solidarity, including schoolchildren giving up money for snacks to support affected classmates. But conditions remain dangerous. Meteorological officials warned of rain in the upper reaches of the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers and urged residents to remain alert for flash floods.