NEPAL MOURNS 1,398 GLACIAL FLOOD VICTIMS AS RESCUERS SEARCH FOR 5,500 MISSING

Agency Report

Nepal on Monday observed a national day of mourning for victims of the devastating glacial floods and mountain collapse that have killed at least 1,398 people and left more than 5,500 others missing.

The disaster, which struck on August 26 along the China-Nepal border, has left entire communities devastated, with roads destroyed, homes swept away and hundreds of hydropower workers still unaccounted for.

Flags were flown at half-mast across the country, while candlelight vigils were planned later in the day as Nepal marked the 13th day since the disaster, in accordance with Hindu mourning rituals.

The survival of three hydropower workers rescued from deep inside tunnels has raised hopes that others could still be found alive. Two Nepali workers were rescued on Friday, while a Chinese national was pulled out on Saturday.

Nepal Army spokesman Raja Ram Basnet said rescue operations were continuing at “the same tempo” to ensure that no one remained trapped.

But families of some missing workers who gathered in the capital, Kathmandu, urged authorities to accelerate the search.

“We have a lot of hope,” said Reena Amatya Shrestha, whose brother is among those missing.

“They say they are doing rescue. If the rescue is there, where’s the result? We need the result.”

Australian tunnel rescue expert Arnold Dix, who is advising Nepali rescue teams, described the operation as an unprecedented challenge.

“We are facing something I have never faced before,” said Dix, president of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association, in a social media post.

“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.”

Rescue teams have received assistance from foreign experts from China, India and South Korea.

Dix said the priority remained saving those who could still be reached.

“We are measured not only by the lives we save, but by the lives we refuse to abandon,” he said.

Drone pilot Adarsha Raj Bhusal, who participated in the rescue operation at the flood-ravaged Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower tunnel in Rasuwa district, recalled the dangerous conditions faced by rescuers.

The 24-year-old told AFP that he sank into mud up to his waist after jumping from a helicopter into the area days after the disaster.

“The moment I landed I sank into the mud up to my waist,” Bhusal said.

“Other soldiers were there to help, but they were struggling just as much as I was. That’s how bad the conditions were… It was intense the entire way in.”

Meanwhile, President Ram Chandra Paudel visited relief camps in Nuwakot district on Monday, where he met people displaced by what his office described as “unprecedented flooding”.

With mortuaries overwhelmed, authorities have buried hundreds of victims in mass graves after collecting DNA samples to facilitate identification later, according to police.

Despite the scale of the devastation, several survivors have emerged from seemingly impossible circumstances.

A 64-year-old woman, Chandika Shrestha, was rescued alive from her mud-covered home in Bidur on Saturday after her family had already conducted a symbolic funeral, believing she had died.

“Chandika has got a new life,” her neighbour, Buddhi Lal Dongol, told AFP.

“It would be so good if the others who are missing also came back.”

The exact cause of the glacial collapse remains unclear, but climate change is accelerating glacial melting globally and increasing concerns about the risk of glacial and mountain-related disasters.

Nepal, a largely rural country of about 30 million people, has contributed relatively little to the greenhouse gas emissions driving global warming but faces significant exposure to its effects.

The government has warned that reconstruction could cost billions of dollars, placing further pressure on an economy already constrained by limited resources.

A preliminary United Nations assessment estimated damage to buildings from the floods alone at $158 million, while warning that total losses would be substantially higher after accounting for destroyed roads and bridges, agricultural land and humanitarian needs.

According to the country’s disaster agency, 1,355 bodies have so far been recovered in Nepal, while about 4,996 people remain missing.

As rescue and recovery operations continue, volunteer groups in Kathmandu were also mobilising support for survivors, packing utensils, blankets and clothing for distribution to affected communities.

“As Nepalis, we’ve always been told that you look after your people,” volunteer Ashim GC said.

“And these are our people.”

AFP