Nepal holds day of mourning after floods kill more than 1,300

Nepal is holding a day of mourning for more than 1,300 people killed in flooding along the Bhote-Koshi River in Rasuwa district on Aug. 26. National flags were lowered at government buildings and diplomatic missions abroad.

People also went to places of worship to pray for the safety of their relatives. The disaster left 32,000 families without shelter and destroyed about 7,500 homes.

It also severely disrupted vital infrastructure in central Nepal. Nearly 5,000 people remain missing, including 589 foreigners, and the damage is estimated at $2.56 billion.

The flooding followed a sharp rise in the Bhote-Koshi's water level after an ice and rock slide on the morning of Aug. 26. Mud and debris destroyed several settlements, roads and hydropower facilities, and swept away a border checkpoint in Gyirong county in China's Tibet Autonomous Region.

Nepal's flooding also prompted concern about possible casualties among Kyrgyz citizens. Kyrgyzstan's Foreign Ministry said, citing preliminary information from China, that no Kyrgyz nationals were among those killed or missing in Tibet and Nepal.