Grief-stricken communities in Nepal observed the final day of traditional Hindu mourning on Monday for victims of a catastrophic flood and landslide along the country’s border with China.
Government offices across Nepal and diplomatic missions abroad flew the national flag at half-mast to mark the 13th day after the disaster, according to the Home Ministry. The day is traditionally observed as the conclusion of mourning, with families and communities carrying out religious rituals and food offerings.
The disaster struck on August 26 after a glacier broke away in the Himalayan region, triggering a massive flow of mud and rock into a river along the Nepal-China border. The resulting flood and landslide swept through towns and villages and buried roads and highways under debris.
At least 1,380 people have died, while more than 5,500 remain missing, according to the figures cited in the report.
Despite the scale of the disaster, rescue teams have continued to find survivors. Four people have been rescued in recent days, including a Chinese national who was pulled from a tunnel on Saturday. Two hydropower workers were rescued from another tunnel on Friday, while a Nepali woman was pulled alive from her buried home on Saturday.
US Business Delegation Pays Tribute to Jinnah at Mazar-e-Quaid
Nepal’s rescue teams have focused on hydropower stations in the affected region, where authorities believe more survivors could remain trapped, army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet said.
Chinese authorities said on Sunday that rescue workers had recovered another 12 bodies as search operations continued in Tibet, where hundreds of people remain missing.
The government did not organise wider ceremonies for the final day of mourning because rescue and search operations were still under way.
“There are no government programmes organised as the rescue and search operation is still going on in the flood-hit areas,” Phanindra Paudel of Nepal’s National Emergency Operation Centre told Reuters.
President Ram Chandra Paudel, Nepal’s ceremonial head of state, visited flood-affected areas on Monday to assess the damage, according to his aide.
Prime Minister Balendra Shah said security personnel at a district jail in Nuwakot, one of the worst-hit districts, saved 923 prisoners by moving them to a higher building before floodwaters reached their low-lying facility.
Authorities also recaptured 50 prisoners who escaped after breaking through the prison walls and gates as flooding began. According to Shah, they had travelled only about 100 metres before being detained.
With large numbers of people still missing, authorities continue to prioritise rescue and recovery efforts even as the country marks the formal end of the mourning period.
