Nepal holds national day of mourning for 1,287 flood victims

September 7, 2026 at 02:31 PM2 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

Nepal observed a national day of mourning on Monday for victims of a flash flood that killed at least 1,287 people. Flags flew at half mast while rescue teams continued searching for more than 5,000 people still missing nearly two weeks after the disaster.

Key Facts

At least 1,287 people died after a flash flood, believed triggered by a glacial collapse, swept through a Himalayan valley along the Nepal-Tibet border.
More than 5,000 people remain missing in Nepal nearly two weeks after the disaster.
Nepal's President Ram Chandra Paudel toured flood-devastated areas on Monday.
A 64-year-old woman was rescued from her mud-buried home in Nuwakot district on Saturday, more than 10 days after the flood.
Chinese rescue workers recovered twelve bodies on the Nepal-Tibet border on Sunday.

National Mourning

Nepalis observed a national day of mourning on Monday, lighting candles to mark the last day of the traditional 13-day Hindu mourning period. Government offices and missions abroad flew the national flag at half mast. Commemorations were scaled back as rescue teams continued searching for survivors. Phanindra Paudel of the National Emergency Operation Centre said no government programmes were organised because rescue operations were still ongoing.

Rescue Operations

Army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet said rescue efforts were continuing with the same tempo as day one, focusing on ground, air, and tunnel searches. Rescuers see the best chance of finding survivors in tunnels of the region's hydropower stations, where hundreds of workers are among the missing. Australian tunnel rescue expert Arnold Dix, advising Nepali teams, described the operation as facing multiple potential rescues unfolding simultaneously in different places. Four people have been rescued in recent days, three at hydropower stations or tunnels. On Sunday, Chinese rescue workers recovered twelve bodies on the Nepal-Tibet border using excavators, shovels, and ground penetrating radar.

Casualty Figures

At least 5,083 people are still missing in Nepal. On the Tibetan side, the death toll reported by Chinese media on Friday was 31, with 531 people unaccounted for. A 64-year-old Nepali woman was pulled alive from her partially buried house in Nuwakot district on Saturday, more than 10 days after the flood. She was discovered on the fourth floor by Nepal's Armed Police Force and airlifted to a hospital in Kathmandu.