Nepal observes national mourning as search continues after deadly flood

Nepal’s final day of traditional Hindu mourning unfolded without public ceremonies as rescue teams continued searching for survivors in areas devastated by a massive mudslide near the Chinese border.

Government offices across the Hindu-majority country and Nepalese missions abroad flew the national flag at half-mast on Monday, the 13th day after the disaster. The day traditionally marks the end of mourning and is observed with rituals and food offerings. But the government said it had organized no wider programs because search and rescue operations were still underway.

The disaster began on August 26, when a glacier broke off on the Himalayan border between 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 under debris. At least 1,380 people have died, while more than 5,500 remain missing.

Rescuers have found four people alive 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 recovered from her buried home on Saturday.

Search teams were concentrating on hydropower stations, where authorities believed survivors might still be trapped, army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet said. In Tibet, Chinese officials reported recovering 12 additional bodies as the search continued for hundreds of missing people.

President Ram Chandra Paudel toured the flood-hit areas to assess the damage. In Nuwakot, security personnel moved 923 prisoners to higher ground before floodwaters entered their low-lying jail building. Authorities later recaptured 50 prisoners who fled after breaking through the prison’s wall and gates.

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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.