Additional Coverage:
Nepal Observes Day of Mourning as Flood Toll Rises
KATHMANDU – Nepal marked a solemn day of mourning on Monday to honor those lost in the devastating floods that struck on August 26. Government offices lowered their flags to half-staff, while families concluded traditional Hindu mourning rituals after 13 days of grief.
The catastrophic floods have claimed over 1,300 lives across Nepal and Tibet, with approximately 5,000 people still unaccounted for, including foreign nationals, according to Nepal’s disaster management authorities.
In accordance with Hindu customs prevalent in Nepal, the 13-day mourning period is a time when close relatives remain at home, receiving visitors who come to pay their respects. The final day is marked by rituals aimed at praying for the departed souls. For families whose loved ones remain missing, symbolic funerals were performed-an important rite offering a measure of spiritual closure in the absence of the physical remains.
Monday’s official day of mourning underscored the nation’s collective sorrow, but amid the ceremonies, urgency grew over the ongoing search efforts. In Kathmandu, relatives of missing workers from hydropower projects gathered near prime ministerial and ministry offices, pressing the government to accelerate rescue operations.
Sumana Shrestha held a poster bearing the image of her husband, a 55-year-old consulting geologist who vanished after his shift at the Trishuli hydropower plant, whose office was buried in debris. “It has been 13 days, and we have yet to see any rescue attempts,” she said. “All we can do is pray for a miracle.”
Similarly, Mahesh Prasad Shrestha, holding a photo of his brother Niraj, a 52-year-old engineer at the same site, criticized the slow response. “Authorities only sent a small excavator by helicopter nearly a week after the disaster,” he said, urging the government to deploy larger equipment from neighboring countries.
Candlelight vigils were held across Kathmandu to honor the victims, including at Basantapur Durbar Square.
Rescue efforts remain concentrated on a dozen hydropower plants, where about 900 workers are missing. Officials estimate roughly 500 are trapped in tunnels and debris. International teams from India, China, South Korea, and the United States have joined Nepalese rescuers in combing through wreckage and tunnels.
There have been a few signs of hope: two Nepalese workers were rescued on Friday, and a Chinese man was pulled from the site on Saturday. Yet the search continues, as families and the nation await answers amid ongoing tragedy.