Nepal observed a national day of mourning on Monday, with flags lowered to half-staff and families performing final rites for the more than 1,300 people killed in the catastrophic flash floods of 26 August. The disaster, which also struck Tibet, has left around 5,000 people unaccounted for, including foreign nationals, according to Nepal's disaster management agency.
In the Hindu-majority nation, the 13th day after a death marks the end of the mourning period, when close relatives gather for rituals to guide the departed souls. For many families whose loved ones remain missing, symbolic cremations have been held—a deeply meaningful act in a tradition where cremation is a vital final rite, offering spiritual closure even without the body.
In Kathmandu, relatives of missing workers gathered near the prime minister's office and key ministries, urging the government to accelerate search and rescue operations. Many of the missing were employed at hydropower projects along the Bhotekhoshi river, swept away by the torrent or buried under debris.
Rescue efforts intensify in hydropower tunnels
Rescue operations have increasingly concentrated on 12 hydropower sites, where authorities estimate that about 900 workers are missing and roughly 500 may be trapped in tunnels. Over the weekend, rescuers pulled a Chinese national from one plant, and two Nepalese workers were saved on Friday, raising hopes that more survivors might be found.
Arnold Dix, president of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association and a key adviser during the 2023 Silkyara tunnel rescue in India, described the situation as an unprecedented challenge. "We are facing something I have never faced before," Dix wrote on social media. "Not one rescue, but multiple potential rescues, unfolding at the same time, in different places, each with its own dangers, uncertainties, and lives that may still be saved."
Nepal Army spokesman Raja Ram Basnet told AFP that operations continue "with the same tempo we had on day one," with searches conducted on the ground, by air, and inside the tunnels. Specialised teams from India, China, South Korea, and the United States are sifting through debris and damaged structures, hoping to find more survivors.
Dix, who has been advising the rescue effort, drew on his experience at Silkyara, where 41 men were trapped for 17 days. "Silkyara taught me never to confuse unlikely with impossible," he said. "We are measured not only by the lives we save, but by the lives we refuse to abandon."
The floods have also raised questions about the safety of hydropower infrastructure in the Himalayas, a region increasingly prone to extreme weather events. As climate change intensifies, such disasters are likely to become more frequent, putting both local communities and critical energy projects at risk.
For now, the focus remains on the search. In Kathmandu, families cling to hope, posting photos of missing relatives on hospital walls and demanding answers. The government has promised to continue efforts until every possible survivor is found, but with each passing day, the odds grow longer.
