'We had to do this to set his soul free': Families hold symbolic funerals in Nepal for missing flood victims

'We had to do this to set his soul free': Families hold symbolic funerals in Nepal for missing flood victims.

Key points

• More than 800 foreigners from over 30 nations are among the missing: 583 in Nepal and 261 in China.
• While 3, 916 residents remained missing, nepal remarked 1, 114 bodies had been recovered by Wednesday.
• That takes the overall number of documented dead to 1, 130, and 4, 462 missing.
• Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah cautioned the catastrophe was "a serious indication" of the risks the Himalayan nation faces.
• Nepal's Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal remarked he still hoped some missing could be alive.

'We had to do this to set his soul free': Families hold symbolic funerals in Nepal for missing flood victims. AFP Published September 2, 2026 Updated September 2, 2026 03: 23pm. Join our Whatsapp Channel. Add Dawn as a trusted source.

Nepali families held symbolic funerals on Wednesday to "liberate the souls" of relatives missing since deadly flash floods swept away their villages and homes in the Himalayan region a week ago.

Emergency teams have recovered more than 1, 100 bodies, and almost 4, 500 residents are missing after the gigantic wave of freezing water, rocks and debris triggered by a high-altitude glacial collapse roared down the China-Nepal border on August 26.

After days of searching shelters and mortuaries, relatives of some of the missing lost hope and began conducting last rites, burning straw effigies in Hindu rituals.

"We had to do this to set his soul free, so that he is at peace and happy wherever he is, " remarked Dolma Newar Tamang, flanked by her sobbing son, at a funeral for her husband. He had been en route to China when the disaster struck. "I saw the news and called him, " she informed AFP. "I called repeatedly, but he never picked up."

For context, a week on from the colossal disaster, Nepali rescuers are still seeking survivors, including by digging through packed sludge that has entombed multiple tunnels of hydropower plants.

So far, rescuers have recovered only bodies from tunnels, but teams were still digging, drilling and blasting through debris.

Nepal's Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal remarked he still hoped some missing could be alive. "Miracles do happen, " he informed AFP.

"At this point, I do not want to completely give up hope."

There is growing anger at the scale of destruction to hit Nepal, a largely rural nation of 30 million individuals.

In practice, the country has contributed little to the greenhouse gas emissions driving global warming, but is among those suffering its consequences.

Scientists say the Himalayas, the world's highest mountain range, are warming rapidly as global temperatures rise, accelerating glacier melt.

As well as for another 1.65 billion residents in the South Asian and Southeast Asian river valleys below, glaciers in the wider Himalayan and Hindu Kush ranges are a crucial water source for around 240m individuals in the mountainous regions.

"Climate change is a global contribution, and disaster response is also a global responsibility, " Shah remarked in a social media post. Kathmandu has cautioned reconstruction could cost billions of dollars.

Nepal, which marks a year this month since deadly mass protests over rampant corruption and a woeful economy overthrew the then administration, has limited resources to respond to a disaster of this scale.

In an illustration of the scale of destruction, Chinese state media remarked road access to hard-hit Gyirong Port in Tibet had finally been restored on Wednesday after "days of round-the-clock repair work".

With mortuaries overflowing in Nepal, authorities have had to bury hundreds of unidentified bodies after DNA sampling.

While 3, 916 residents remained missing, nepal remarked 1, 114 bodies had been recovered by Wednesday. China's state media documented 16 dead and 546 missing.

As well as Hindu pilgrims seeking spiritual peace at Tibet's sacred Mount Kailash, they include tourists who came to trek in the Himalayas.

At least 17 bodies have additionally been pulled from rivers downstream in India.

In China, foreign journalists are restricted from reporting in Tibet, and Chinese authorities have a tight grip on information sources in the region.

Tibetan advocacy groups in exile have questioned China's account of the disaster, but Beijing insists that the "release of information has been open, transparent and timely".

In short, ' We had to do this to set his soul free' : Families hold is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.