Nepal Holds National Mourning Day as Search Continues After Deadly Flood

Nepal entered the final traditional Hindu day of mourning on Monday while rescue teams continued searching for more than 5,500 people missing after catastrophic floods and mudslides along the border with China. At least 1,380 people have died.

Government offices in Nepal and diplomatic missions abroad were due to fly the national flag at half-mast, the Home Ministry said. The 13th day after a death marks the final day of mourning for Hindu devotees, who observe it with rituals and food offerings.

The disaster began on August 26, when a glacier broke off in the Himalayas and a huge wall of mud and rock collapsed into a river along the Nepal-Tibet border. Towns and villages were swept away, while roads and highways disappeared under mud and debris.

Search teams have rescued four people in recent days. A Chinese national was pulled from a tunnel on Saturday, while two hydropower workers were rescued from another tunnel on Friday. A Nepali woman was also found alive in her buried home on Saturday. Nepal’s rescue effort has focused on hydropower stations, where officials believe survivors may still be trapped. Chinese officials said workers recovered 12 more bodies in Tibet as searches continued there.

The government planned no broader ceremonies while the operation remained active. “There are no government programmes organised as the rescue and search operation is still going on in the flood-hit areas,” Phanindra Paudel of the National Emergency Operation Centre told Reuters. President Ram Chandra Paudel visited affected areas to survey the damage. Prime Minister Balendra Shah also said security personnel saved 923 prisoners by moving them to higher ground before floodwaters entered their low-lying building, while authorities recaptured 50 prisoners who broke through the prison wall.

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There are no government programmes organised as the rescue and search operation is still going on in the flood-hit areas.