Nepal marks national mourning day after deadly flood
Summary
Nepal observed the Hindu last day of mourning on Monday for hundreds killed in a deadly flood along its border with China, while search operations continued after several recent rescues. Government offices and missions abroad were ordered to fly flags at half-mast for the 13th day after death. The disaster, triggered by a glacier break, killed at least 1,380 people and left more than 5,500 missing. No wider ceremonies were planned because rescue efforts were still ongoing.
Key Facts
- The mudslide struck on August 26 after a glacier broke off and collapsed into a river on the Himalayan border of Nepal and China’s Tibet.
- Chinese officials said workers recovered 12 more bodies on Sunday as the search continued for hundreds still missing in Tibet.
- President Ram Chandra Paudel was touring flood-hit areas on Monday to survey damage caused by the disaster.
- Security personnel in Nuwakot saved 923 prisoners by moving them to higher ground before flood waters reached the jail.
- Authorities also captured 50 prisoners who had broken prison walls and gates and fled only about 100 meters.
Nepal's national flag flies at half-mast as the country observes national day of mourning in the aftermath of flash floods in Kathmandu, Sept. 7. AFP-Yonhap
KATHMANDU — Grief-stricken Nepalis entered the traditional Hindu last day of mourning on Monday for the hundreds who died in the catastrophic flood along the country's border with China even as the government kept search operations going after four miracle rescues in recent days.
Government offices in the Hindu majority nation of 30 million people and at missions abroad would fly the national flag at half-mast to mark the 13th day after death, the home ministry said in a statement. The day is considered the final day of mourning by the faithful, who commemorate it with rituals and food offerings.
A huge wall of mud and rock, triggered by a glacier breaking off, collapsed into a river on the Himalayan border of Nepal and China's Tibet on August 26, washing away towns and villages and burying roads and highways under piles of mud and debris.
At least 1,380 people have been killed by the mudslide and more than 5,500 are missing.
In recent days, search teams in Nepal have rescued four people, including a Chinese national who was pulled from a tunnel on Saturday. The others were two hydropower workers rescued from another tunnel on Friday and a Nepali woman pulled out from her buried house on Saturday.
Rescue operations in Nepal were focused on hydropower stations in the region, army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet said, where authorities believe there might still be survivors.
Chinese officials said on Sunday that workers had recovered 12 more bodies as the search continued for hundreds still missing in Tibet.
Buddhist monks look at the remains before a ceremony for flash flood victims at Trishuli, in Nepal's Nuwakot district, Sept. 7. AFP-Yonhap
No ceremonies amid ongoing search
With search teams still looking for survivors, the government has not planned any wider events for the final day of mourning.
"There are no government programmes organised as the rescue and search operation is still going on in the flood-hit areas," Phanindra Paudel of the National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC) told Reuters.
President Ram Chandra Paudel, the ceremonial head of state, was touring flood-hit areas on Monday and would survey damage caused by the disaster, his aide said.
Security personnel at the district jail in Nuwakot, one of the two worst affected districts, saved 923 prisoners by shifting them to a building in a higher location before flood waters entered their low-lying building, Prime Minister Balendra Shah said in a social media post.
Authorities also captured 50 prisoners who had broken the prison wall and gates as flooding began, and had fled barely 100 metres, Shah said.
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