National Mourning Day Being Observed Today to Honor Rasuwa Flood-affected

A day of national mourning is being observed today to honor the victims of the devastating floods that struck the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa on August 26. On September 3, a Cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers’ Office in Singha Durbar made the decision to declare this day of mourning.

Across Nepal, government offices and Nepali embassies around the world will display the national flag at half-mast to respect and to express a collective sense of sorrow during a time of national mourning.

Recent catastrophic flash floods and landslides along the Bhotekoshi river basin and northern districts in the country have caused an immense loss of human lives and properties.

As of Sunday evening, police reports indicate that 1,342 bodies have been recovered from the Bhotekoshi flood. In addition, 3,992 individuals remain unaccounted for.

The latest figures show that among the deceased, there are 530 men, 328 women, and 495 bodies in a state of disrepair. According to police spokesperson Abhi Narayan Kafle, of those still uncontacted, 2,827 are men and 567 are women from the local population, while 267 men and 239 women are foreign nationals.

Search, rescue, and relief efforts are ongoing in the affected regions. Out of the bodies recovered, 1,444 have been safely buried, and efforts to identify and manage the remaining bodies are progressing.

So far, 9,159 individuals have been rescued from the floods, with 3,190 of them currently housed in a holding centre, as reported by spokesperson Kafle. DNA testing has been prioritized to help identify missing persons and the deceased.

To date, police have collected DNA samples from 2,376 individuals, including 1,181 deceased and 1,195 relatives of the victims. Teams from the Nepali Army, Armed Police Force, and other relevant government agencies, including Nepal Police, are actively engaged in search, rescue, identification, and management of the missing bodies. (RSS)