Nepalis in Hong Kong mourn flash flood victims on 13th day of mourning

Hundreds of Nepalis in Hong Kong gathered on Monday to pay tribute to thousands of victims of the flash flood in their homeland, marking the traditional 13th day of mourning since the disaster struck.

The hour-long programme, organised by local community groups with support from the Nepalese consulate, coincided with a national day of mourning in Nepal on September 7.

Addressing the crowd, Satish Gurung, the acting consul general for Nepal in Hong Kong, said it was a “very difficult time” for the country.

“The flash flood disaster of August 26 in Nepal, Tibet and China was a terrible tragedy with unfathomable cost to human lives. As of today, the death toll stands at 1,355, with an additional 4,996 still missing,” he said.

Gurung noted that the disaster was driven in part by “global warming in the mountains” and called for support to Nepal not only through aid and charity, but also through climate justice.

Climate justice frames global warming not just as an environmental problem, but as a human rights issue where the burden of change falls on the world’s biggest polluters.