Nepal observes national mourning as flood search continues after four rescues

Nepal observed a national day of mourning while rescuers continued searching for survivors after a catastrophic mudslide along the border with China. Government offices and diplomatic missions abroad lowered the national flag to half-mast on the 13th day after the disaster, the traditional final day of mourning in Hindu practice.

The mudslide began on 26 August when a glacier broke off in the Himalayan border region of Nepal and China's Tibet. A huge wall of mud and rock collapsed into a river, washing away towns and villages and burying roads and highways. At least 1,380 people have died, while more than 5,500 remain missing.

Recent rescues have kept hopes alive. Search teams pulled a Chinese national from a tunnel on Saturday, after rescuing two hydropower workers from another tunnel on Friday. A Nepali woman was also found alive in her buried house on Saturday. Nepal's rescue efforts focused on hydropower stations, where authorities believed survivors might still be trapped. Chinese officials said workers had recovered 12 more bodies as the search continued in Tibet.

The government planned no wider ceremonies because the search was still underway. "There are no government programmes organised as the rescue and search operation is still going on in the flood-hit areas," said Phanindra Paudel of the National Emergency Operation Centre.

President Ram Chandra Paudel toured affected areas to assess the damage. In Nuwakot, one of the worst-hit districts, security personnel saved 923 prisoners by moving them to higher ground before floodwaters entered their low-lying building. Authorities later recaptured 50 prisoners who escaped through the prison wall and gates but fled only about 100 metres.

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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.