Nepal holds a day of mourning after floods kill at least 1,300 people
[September 08, 2026]
By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal held a day of mourning Monday to remember
those killed in the Aug. 26 floods, with flags lowered at government
offices and families concluding mourning rituals.
Monday was the 13th day since the flooding which killed more than 1,300
people in Nepal and Tibet and left some 5,000 missing, including
foreigners, according to Nepal’s disaster management agency.
In predominantly Hindu Nepal, mourning periods last 13 days, during
which close family members stay home and relatives visit to pay their
respects. Rituals are held on the final day to pray for the souls of the
departed.
Several people whose relatives remain missing performed symbolic
funerals. Cremation is an important final rite in Hindu tradition, and
performing the ceremony even without the bodies of their loved ones
provided some families a sense of spiritual release.
The government had declared Monday an official day of mourning and
ordered flags at government offices lowered to half-staff.
Meanwhile, search efforts continued for the missing, but some protested
that not enough was being done.
In Kathmandu, relatives gathered near the offices of the prime minister
and key ministries to demand the government speed up search and rescue
efforts for hundreds of people who had been working at hydropower plants
and were either swept away by the rushing Bhotekhoshi River or buried
under debris.
Sumana Shrestha stood with family members holding a poster with the
photo of her 55-year-old husband, who has not been heard from since the
day of the flood.
Her husband, a consulting geologist, had promised to return home after
his shift at the project office for the Trishuli hydropower plant on the
day of the flood. The 2 1/2-story office was completely buried by
debris.
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Lamps burn as Buddhist monks perform rituals and prayers for victims
of the recent flash floods in the Dhunge area of district Nuwakot,
Nepal, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)
“We are here because we have not heard of any rescue attempt on this
project, but it has been 13 days already,” she said. "The only thing
we have been able to do is pray to God and hope for a miracle."
Another protester, Mahesh Prasad Shrestha, held a photograph of his
brother Niraj Shrestha, a 52-year-old engineer who worked at the
same site. He said authorities only sent a small excavator by
helicopter on the sixth or seventh day after the disaster, adding:
“They should have ordered big helicopters from places like China or
India to fly in equipment.”
Candlelight vigils were held in several places in Kathmandu in
memory of the people who lost their lives during the flooding.
Rescue efforts have focused on 12 hydropower projects, where about
900 workers are missing and roughly 500 are believed to be trapped
in various tunnels, authorities said. Specialized rescue teams from
India, China, South Korea and the United States have been searching
through debris, damaged structures and tunnels at the projects.
Two Nepalese workers were rescued from the plant Friday, and
rescuers pulled out a Chinese man from the facility on Saturday.
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