Nepal holds national mourning for more than 1,300 flood disaster victims

Nepal lowered its national flags on September 7 as the country observed a day of mourning for victims of the disaster, while families continued to wait for news of missing relatives. Candlelight vigils were also planned nationwide.

The mourning day fell on the 13th day after the disaster, matching the end of the traditional Hindu mourning period. Hindu families in Nepal commonly observe 13 days of mourning and hold final rituals for the dead. For families whose relatives have not been found, the rituals remain incomplete. Some have held symbolic funerals without recovering the bodies.

In Kathmandu, relatives of missing hydropower workers gathered near the prime minister’s office and other government agencies. They called for rescue operations to accelerate. “We still have a lot of hope. They say they are carrying out rescue operations. If they are really conducting rescues, where are the results? We need to see results,” said Reena Amatya Shrestha, whose relative is among the missing.

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We still have a lot of hope. They say they are carrying out rescue operations. If they are really conducting rescues, where are the results? We need to see results.

Australian tunnel-rescue specialist Arnold Dix, who is advising Nepal’s rescue teams, described the operation as an unprecedented challenge. “We are facing something I have never encountered before. It is not just one rescue, but many potential rescues happening at the same time, in different locations. Each place has its own dangers and uncertainties, and lives may still be saved,” he wrote on social media.

Hope increased after three workers were rescued from deep inside hydropower tunnels on September 4 and 5, including two Nepali workers and one Chinese worker. Search efforts are now focused on 12 hydropower projects, where about 900 workers remain missing and roughly 500 are believed trapped.

According to AFP, the collapse of glaciers and mountains along the Nepal-China border on August 26 killed at least 1,398 people and left more than 5,500 missing. The disaster swept away settlements and destroyed roads and homes. The United Nations estimated damage to Nepal’s built infrastructure at $158 million and appealed for $50 million to assist more than 84,000 affected people.

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We are facing something I have never encountered before. It is not just one rescue, but many potential rescues happening at the same time, in different locations. Each place has its own dangers and uncertainties, and lives may still be saved.