Nepal's national day of mourning (September 7) — the search for nine Koreans is barred from walking
Nepal observed a national day of mourning on September 7, 2026, the thirteenth day after the Himalayan flood on the Nepal-China border, following the Hindu funeral tradition of a thirteen-day mourning period. The toll reported that day was 1,398 dead — 1,355 in Nepal and 43 in Tibet — and 5,515 missing, 4,996 in Nepal and 519 in Tibet. Nine Koreans have been unaccounted for since the first days of the disaster. Korea's overseas emergency relief team, deployed from September 2, has concentrated on the mountain terrain around the UT-1 hydropower project, especially the tunnel and powerhouse near the weir dam, and reported finding nothing of note. A foreign ministry official said foot searches are not happening in the areas the team most wants to reach, because the Nepalese army will not permit them on the grounds that the terrain is steep and dangerous. Drones and helicopters are used instead where walking is barred. The reason this is still a rescue rather than a recovery is that survivors were pulled from tunnels on September 4 and again on September 5
The three lines
- Mourning — September 7 was Nepal's national day of mourning, day thirteen, following the Hindu thirteen-day mourning tradition
- Toll — 1,398 dead (1,355 Nepal, 43 Tibet) and 5,515 missing (4,996 Nepal, 519 Tibet). Nine Koreans still unaccounted for
- Search — the Nepalese army bars foot searches on safety grounds; the Korean team is working the UT-1 area by drone and helicopter
Key questions
- How many died and how many are missing in the Nepal flood
- **As of September 7: 1,398 dead and 5,515 missing.** By country: **dead** — Nepal **1,355**, Tibet (China) **43**. **Missing** — Nepal **4,996**, Tibet **519**. **How those numbers grew describes the disaster.** The first count on August 26 was 472 dead and 1,535 missing (「Nepal-Tibet glacial flood (August 26)」). Then 626 on August 29, 919 on August 31, 1,114 on September 2 (「Nepal flood toll reaches 1,114」), and **1,398** on September 7. **The death toll roughly tripled in twelve days, and the missing count rose faster still.** **Missing running at nearly four times dead** is characteristic of a disaster where landslides and torrents rewrote the terrain — the places to look for people went under mud and water. The cause identified is a **glacial lake outburst flood, or GLOF** (「What a GLOF is」). **Nine Koreans have been unreachable since the first days.**
- Why can they not search on foot
- **The Nepalese army will not permit it, on terrain grounds.** A Korean foreign ministry official said it is **"true that foot searches are not being conducted in the areas of interest to us,"** and that the Nepalese army does not allow them because **"the terrain is steep and dangerous."** The army's own phrasing was that **"foot searches are difficult in areas judged hazardous."** **This contains the structural problem of disaster search work.** The searching is done by a foreign relief team, but **the authority to decide who enters where belongs to the affected state.** An overseas emergency relief team operates on the host country's request and approval; it holds no independent search right (「What Korea's overseas emergency relief team is」). And the army's judgement is not obviously wrong — where a glacial lake burst and formed landslide-dammed lakes upstream, **secondary flooding and further collapse are real risks** (「Nepal flood toll reaches 919 (August 31)」). **Drones and helicopters substitute where walking is barred.** But those observe from above the surface, and the places most likely to hold missing people are **inside tunnels and buildings, and under sediment.** **The available instrument and the place that needs searching do not match.**
- What is the Korean team doing
- **Working the UT-1 hydropower area intensively.** The Korea Disaster Relief Team arrived in Kathmandu on **September 2** and began operations (「Nepal flood toll reaches 1,114」). Its search zone is the **mountain terrain around the UT-1 hydropower plant**, where the nine missing Koreans worked, and within it the **tunnel and powerhouse near the weir dam**. The result through September 7 is **"nothing of note found."** **The search continues because of two earlier rescues.** Two survivors were pulled from a tunnel on **September 4** (「Two survivors rescued from Nepal flood (September 4)」), and another on **September 5** at the same plant (「Another survivor pulled from a Nepal flood tunnel (September 5)」). **That tunnel structures survived, and that people have come out of them alive, is why this is still a rescue on day thirteen rather than a recovery.** Judgement gets harder as time passes. The question that decides the next phase is single: **when foot access opens.** Until it does, zones that drones and helicopters cannot verify simply stay unsearched.
A foreign relief team does the searching; the affected state decides where it may go. That is where the search for nine Koreans stopped on day thirteen of the Nepal flood.
1. Day thirteen
Nepal observed a national day of mourning on September 7, 2026 (local time) — the thirteenth day after the flood, following the Hindu thirteen-day mourning period.
| Category | Nepal | Tibet (China) | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dead | 1,355 | 43 | 1,398 |
| Missing | 4,996 | 519 | 5,515 |
How the count grew describes the event.
| Date | Dead | Missing |
|---|---|---|
| August 26 | 472 | 1,535 |
| August 29 | 626 | — |
| August 31 | 919 | — |
| September 2 | 1,114 | 3,048 (as of August 30) |
| September 7 | 1,398 | 5,515 |
The death toll roughly tripled in twelve days, and missing now runs near four times dead — the signature of a disaster where landslides and torrents rewrote the ground. The cause identified is a glacial lake outburst flood (「What a GLOF is」).
2. What is blocked is walking
A Korean foreign ministry official said it is "true that foot searches are not being conducted in the areas of interest to us." The reason is a Nepalese army refusal, on grounds that "the terrain is steep and dangerous" and that "foot searches are difficult in areas judged hazardous."
| Method | Status | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Foot search | Barred by Nepalese army | Cannot reach the priority zones |
| Drone | In use | Observes above the surface only |
| Helicopter | In use | Same |
Here is the difficulty. The places most likely to hold missing people are inside tunnels and buildings and under sediment, and the permitted instruments look from above.
The search authority is not Korea's either. An overseas emergency relief team works on the host state's request and approval (「What Korea's overseas emergency relief team is」). Nor is the army's judgement obviously wrong — with landslide-dammed lakes upstream, secondary flooding and further collapse are real (「Nepal flood toll reaches 919 (August 31)」).
3. Why it is still a rescue
The Korea Disaster Relief Team arrived in Kathmandu on September 2 (「Nepal flood toll reaches 1,114」) and has worked the UT-1 hydropower area — where the nine Koreans were employed — concentrating on the tunnel and powerhouse near the weir dam. Through September 7 the result is "nothing of note found."
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| September 4 | Two survivors rescued from a tunnel |
| September 5 | Another survivor at the same plant |
Tunnel structures survived, and people have come out of them alive. That is why this is a rescue on day thirteen.
4. What is left and what is unverified
- The count keeps moving. 1,398 and 5,515 are September 7 figures from Nepal's disaster authority.
- Missing cannot be compared directly with dead. Duplicate and unreported cases are mixed in.
- Written order or field judgement is unclear — the distinction decides whether negotiation can reopen access.
- Current deployed headcount was not confirmed. Initial deployment was 44.
- One question decides the next phase — when foot access opens. Until then, zones drones cannot verify stay unsearched.
Sources
- Herald Business — Day 13 of the Nepal flood: a national day of mourning, no results in the search for nine Koreans
- Financial News — Korean rescue team blocked by the Nepalese army; search for nine missing stalls
- Herald Business — Search for nine missing Koreans in Nepal hampered: 'Nepalese army bars foot searches'
- MBC — Government conducts joint search with Nepalese army; nine Koreans not found
- Newspim — Korean emergency relief team rescues one flood survivor in Nepal