Kathmandu, Sept 7: Nepal observed a national day of mourning on Monday for victims of the devastating flash floods that swept through Himalayan communities, even as security forces continued an intensive search for more than 5,000 people still missing.
The mourning marked the final day of the traditional 13-day Hindu mourning period, with people lighting candles to remember those killed in the disaster. Government offices and Nepalese diplomatic missions abroad flew the national flag at half-mast, while official commemorations were scaled back as rescue operations remained underway.
At least 1,287 people have been confirmed dead, while 5,083 remain missing in Nepal, nearly two weeks after the disaster, authorities said.
Phanindra Paudel of the National Emergency Operation Centre said no government programmes would be organised on the mourning day as search and rescue operations were continuing in the affected areas.
President Ram Chandra Paudel visited flood-devastated areas on Monday, an aide said.
The Army said rescue operations were continuing with the same intensity as on the first day of the disaster.
Army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet said rescuers were conducting operations at three levels — on the ground, from the air and inside tunnels.
“Our focus is on search and rescue at three levels – on ground, by air, and in the tunnels,” Basnet said, adding, “We are making sure that no one is still stranded.”
Hydropower stations have emerged as a key focus of the search, with hundreds of workers believed to be trapped or missing inside tunnels. Rescue teams have continued operations at the sites, where difficult terrain and damaged infrastructure have complicated efforts.
Experts from India and China are assisting Nepali rescue teams in operations at the affected hydropower projects.
There have been some signs of hope amid the devastation. Four people have been rescued in recent days, including three from hydropower stations or tunnels.
In one of the most remarkable rescues, a 64-year-old woman was pulled alive from the fourth floor of her partially buried house in Nuwakot, more than 10 days after ice, rock and mud engulfed the structure. Nepal’s Armed Police Force found the woman and airlifted her to a hospital in Kathmandu for treatment.
Australian tunnel rescue expert Arnold Dix, who is advising Nepali rescue teams, said rescuers were facing several operations simultaneously, each involving its own risks and uncertainties.
The flash floods, believed to have been triggered by a glacial collapse, swept through villages in a Himalayan valley along the Nepal-Tibet border, carrying huge quantities of ice, rock and mud downstream.
The disaster caused widespread destruction, damaging homes, roads, bridges and hydropower infrastructure and leaving thousands of people unaccounted for.
Rescue and recovery operations are also continuing on the Chinese side of the border. Chinese rescue workers on Sunday recovered 12 bodies near the Nepal-Tibet border using excavators, shovels and ground-penetrating radar.
According to Chinese media reports, the death toll on the Tibetan side stood at 31, while 531 people remained unaccounted for.
As Nepal mourned its dead, rescue teams continued their search through debris, damaged buildings and hydropower tunnels, with authorities maintaining that efforts would continue until every possible survivor and victim is accounted for.
