KATHMANDU, NEPAL – Rescuers in Nepal are continuing their search for thousands of people still missing, nearly two weeks after devastating floods struck vast areas of the country. Authorities are grappling with significant challenges in identifying the deceased, with many bodies severely damaged or incomplete.
Information was available with The Chenab Times indicating that the official death toll has risen to 1,344, with approximately 5,000 individuals still unaccounted for. Nepal Police reported that over 13,100 people have been successfully rescued. The catastrophic event was initiated on August 26 by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border. This triggered a colossal surge of water and debris down the Bhotekoshi River, leading to widespread devastation in northern and central Nepal. Numerous homes, vehicles, roads, bridges, and critical hydropower infrastructure were either swept away or sustained extensive damage.
The disaster also impacted the Chinese side, with reports from Chinese media indicating at least 31 fatalities and over 500 people missing in Tibet. Within Nepal, officials stated that at least 85 of the recovered bodies were children. The challenging condition of many recovered remains, with approximately 500 found with missing body parts, has significantly complicated identification efforts.
Chitwan district has recorded the highest number of recovered bodies, totaling 362. Other severely affected districts include Nawalparasi East, Nawalparasi West, Nuwakot, Rasuwa, Gorkha, Dhading, and Tanahun, according to Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA). The NDRRMA confirmed that only 98 bodies have been positively identified and handed over to their families.
The task of identifying the dead has become a formidable hurdle. Many bodies were carried far from the original disaster sites and found in a decomposed state or in fragments, making positive identification difficult. Nepal Police have initiated the process of collecting DNA samples from the relatives of missing persons to aid in the identification of unclaimed bodies and human remains. Relatives in Nepal can provide these samples at the Nepal Police Hospital in Kathmandu or through their nearest district police office.
Officials disclosed that over 1,000 unidentified bodies have been interred after DNA samples were collected, a measure intended to facilitate their identification in the future. The government has pledged to ensure an adequate supply of relief materials and prevent mismanagement in their distribution to the flood-affected populations, particularly in areas like Rasuwa.
Nepal’s Minister for Information and Communication, Bikram Timilsina, speaking to the Gorkhapatra online edition, affirmed the government’s active involvement in relief and rehabilitation efforts, emphasizing that there is currently no shortage of essential supplies and that resource management will be conducted transparently. Temporary accommodations have been arranged for displaced individuals in schools and hospital buildings, with plans underway for their long-term resettlement. The government is also mobilizing resources to restore disrupted communication networks, electricity, and road infrastructure in the affected regions.
Minister Timilsina also highlighted Nepal’s call for climate justice, urging the international community to take the disaster as a serious indicator of the growing threat of climate-related events and the need for greater preparedness. He stressed that the disaster underscores the urgent necessity for enhanced preparedness for future climate-induced catastrophes.
In a separate incident, a fresh flood occurred early Sunday in Gorkha district, sweeping away four houses and a suspension bridge. Fortunately, there were no reported casualties as residents were alerted and evacuated to safety. The flood was attributed to the overflow of the Namrung Khola River in Chumnubri Rural Municipality-4. Local reports indicate that two small hydropower projects in the Namrung area were also damaged, and the destruction of the suspension bridge has disrupted local transport.
The Chenab Times News Desk