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🇵🇦 Panama /Disasters & Emergencies

Nepal holds day of mourning 13 days after devastating landslide

From TVN Panamá · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Named sources Ongoing story
  • Nepal is holding a national day of mourning after a landslide killed at least 1,398 people and left more than 5,500 missing near the China border.
  • Rescue teams are searching the surface, from the air and in tunnels for a 13th consecutive day, while several survivors have been pulled from the disaster zone.
  • Families of missing workers gathered in Kathmandu to demand results, as rescuers face multiple operations and dangerous conditions.

Nepal lowered its flags to half-staff on Monday as the country observed a national day of mourning, 13 days after a landslide devastated the border area with China.

We are focusing our efforts on three levels: on the surface, from the air and in the tunnels.

· Raja Ram BasnetThe army spokesman described the areas where rescuers were searching.

The government said the flags were being flown at half-staff “in honor of all those who lost their lives in the devastating and unprecedented flood.” Provisional figures released Monday put the death toll at at least 1,398, with more than 5,500 people still missing. Many of those missing are foreign tourists and pilgrims, as well as hundreds of workers at dams destroyed by the landslide.

Rescue teams continued searching tunnels for survivors for a 13th straight day. The army said the effort had continued with the same intensity as on the first day. “We are focusing our efforts on three levels: on the surface, from the air and in the tunnels,” army spokesman Raja Ram Basnet told AFP.

They say they are searching, but with what results? We want results.

· Reena Amatya ShresthaShe expressed families’ frustration over the search for missing workers.

Three people, two Nepali workers and one Chinese worker, were rescued on Friday and Saturday. Rescuers also pulled a woman in her 60s alive from the rubble of her home over the weekend. But families of the missing said they were frustrated by the lack of visible results. “They say they are searching, but with what results? We want results,” said Reena Amatya Shrestha, whose brother, geologist Sumesh Amatya, was working at the Trishuli-3 dam construction site. “We still have a lot of hope,” she said.

We still have a lot of hope.

· Reena Amatya ShresthaShe said she continued to hope that her missing brother would be found.

Dozens of relatives gathered in a Kathmandu square with a banner asking, “How long will we wait at home and mourn?” Australian specialist Arnold Dix, who is taking part in the rescue, said the operation faced unprecedented difficulties. “This is not a single rescue operation, but potentially several taking place at the same time, in different locations, each with its own dangers,” he said. The landslide, triggered by the collapse of a glacier and part of a mountain, swept away roads, bridges, homes and infrastructure.

This is not a single rescue operation, but potentially several taking place at the same time, in different locations, each with its own dangers.

· Arnold DixThe Australian rescue specialist described the scale and complexity of the response.
About this summary

Originally published by TVN Panamá in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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