Nepal floods: Rescuers search for nearly 5,000 missing as IDs remain a challenge

Floodwaters and debris leave extensive damage across a settlement in Nepal. Pic/AFP

Rescuers in Nepal continued searching for those missing, as authorities faced continuing difficulties in identifying the dead, 11 days after devastating floods struck large parts of the country.

The death toll stood at 1,344, while nearly 5,000 people remained missing, according to Nepal Police. More than 13,100 people have been rescued so far.

The disaster was triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26, sending a massive surge of water and debris downstream through the Bhotekoshi River and devastating settlements in northern and central Nepal. Homes, vehicles, roads, bridges and hydropower infrastructure were swept away or damaged.

At least 31 people were killed on the Chinese side, while more than 500 people remained missing in Tibet, according to Chinese media reports.

Of the bodies recovered in Nepal, at least 85 were children, while around 500 were recovered with body parts missing, according to officials. The condition of many bodies has complicated efforts to establish their identities.

Chitwan district accounted for the largest number of recovered bodies, with 362, followed by other affected districts including Nawalparasi East, Nawalparasi West, Nuwakot, Rasuwa, Gorkha, Dhading and Tanahun, according to Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA).

Only 98 bodies had been identified and handed over to their families, according to NDRRMA.

Identifying the dead has emerged as a major challenge, with many bodies recovered after being swept downstream severely damaged, decomposed or recovered only in parts.

The police have said that bodies carried far from the disaster sites and those that remained in water and mud have made identification particularly difficult.

Nepal Police has begun collecting DNA samples from relatives of missing people to help identify unclaimed bodies and human remains recovered after the floods. Relatives in Nepal can provide samples through the Nepal Police Hospital in Kathmandu or their nearest district police office.

More than 1,000 unidentified bodies have been buried after DNA samples were collected to facilitate their identification in the future, officials said.

Nepal's Information and Communication Minister Bikram Timilsina said the government would ensure that there was no shortage of relief materials or mismanagement in their distribution to flood victims in Rasuwa.

Speaking to the online edition of the government-owned Gorkhapatra, Timilsina said the government was actively involved in relief and rehabilitation efforts despite the scale of the disaster.

He said there was currently no shortage of relief materials and that the government would not allow discrepancies in resource management.

The minister said temporary accommodation had been arranged for flood victims in schools and hospital buildings, while plans were being prepared for their long-term settlement. He also said the government was mobilising its forces and mechanisms to restore disrupted communication, electricity and road networks in the affected areas.

"Nepal demands climate justice at this moment and the international community should be serious about this," Timilsina said, adding that the disaster underscored the need for greater preparedness for future climate-related disasters.

Meanwhile, a fresh flood in Gorkha district early Sunday swept away four houses and a suspension bridge, although there were no casualties.

The flood occurred in Chumnubri Rural Municipality-4 after the Namrung Khola River overflowed, according to the police. The four houses were swept away after residents became aware of the approaching flood and fled to safety.

Authorities said the river may have been temporarily blocked near its source before releasing a surge carrying mud and debris downstream. The Namrung Khola flows into the Budhigandaki River, and residents along the Budhigandaki have been urged to remain alert.

The flooding also damaged two small hydropower projects in the wider Namrung area, according to local reports. It also affected movement in the area after the suspension bridge was swept away.

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