Nepal holds a day of mourning and rescue efforts continue after flash floods kill 1,300
Source: Euronews ↗ (cross-verified by 2 outlets — full list below)
Nepal observed a day of mourning on Monday, marking the thirteenth day since the catastrophic floods that began on 26 August and claimed more than 1,300 lives across Nepal and Tibet, while leaving roughly 5,000 people missing, including foreign nationals. Government offices lowered their flags, and families performed traditional Hindu rites, holding symbolic funerals for loved ones whose bodies have not been recovered. In Kathmandu, mourners gathered outside the prime minister’s office and key ministries, demanding an acceleration of search and rescue operations for hundreds of workers who were swept away by the raging Bhotekhoshi River while laboring on hydropower projects.
The disaster’s most pressing challenge lies in the rescue of workers trapped in twelve hydropower sites, where about 900 employees are unaccounted for and an estimated 500 are believed to be buried within tunnels and debris. International specialists, including Australian tunnelling expert Arnold Dix, have described the situation as unprecedented, with multiple simultaneous rescue missions unfolding across different locations, each presenting unique hazards. Recent successes—such as the extraction of a Chinese worker from a power plant on Saturday and the rescue of two Nepalese workers on Friday—have offered a glimmer of hope, but the scale of the operation remains daunting.
Rescue efforts continue at the same intensity as on the first day, coordinated by the Nepal Army and supported by specialized teams from India, China, South Korea and the United States, who are searching on ground, by air and within the tunnels. Army spokesman Raja Ram Basnet affirmed that no one will be left stranded, while Dix emphasized that the measure of success is not only the lives saved but also the commitment to never abandon those still trapped. The ongoing operations underscore the broader implications for Nepal’s hydropower sector and highlight the urgent need for improved safety and disaster‑response protocols in the country’s rapidly expanding infrastructure.
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