Nepal holds day of mourning after floods kill more than 1,300

Nepal observed an official day of mourning Monday for people killed in the Aug. 26 floods, with flags lowered at government offices and families completing mourning rituals. Nepal’s disaster management agency says the flooding killed more than 1,300 people in Nepal and Tibet and left about 5,000 missing, including foreigners.

Monday was the 13th day after the flooding. In predominantly Hindu Nepal, close family members traditionally remain home for a 13-day mourning period while relatives visit, and final-day rituals are held to pray for the dead. Some families whose relatives remain missing held symbolic funerals. Cremation is a central final Hindu rite, and holding the ceremony without a body gave some families spiritual release.

Searches continued as relatives protested near the prime minister’s office and key ministries in Kathmandu, saying more should be done for hundreds of workers who were swept away by the Bhotekhoshi River or buried under debris at hydropower projects.

Sumana Shrestha said her 55-year-old husband, a consulting geologist, had not been heard from since he went to work at the Trishuli hydropower plant project on the day of the flood. The project’s two-and-a-half-storey office was completely buried. Mahesh Prasad Shrestha said his 52-year-old brother, engineer Niraj Shrestha, was missing from the same site and criticized the delay in sending equipment, saying larger helicopters should have been brought in from countries such as China or India.

Candlelight vigils were held in Kathmandu. Authorities said rescue efforts were focused on 12 hydropower projects, where about 900 workers are missing and roughly 500 are believed trapped in tunnels. Specialized teams from India, China, South Korea and the United States have searched debris, damaged structures and tunnels. Two Nepalese workers were rescued Friday, followed by a Chinese man Saturday.