Nepalese officials are proceeding with mass burials for victims of recent flash floods, as mortuaries overflow and the number of confirmed dead continues to rise. Of the 794 individuals confirmed deceased, only 20 have been identified, according to officials struggling to cope with the scale of the disaster.
More than 2,400 people remain missing following the floods that devastated areas along the Nepal-Tibet border. Among those unaccounted for are 48 British nationals. Bodies recovered have often been severely decomposed after days in the water and mud, with some found hundreds of miles from the flood's origin, including in rivers in neighboring India. This severe decomposition makes identification extremely difficult.
To manage the situation and prevent a public health crisis, the Nepalese government has ordered the burial of all unidentified and unclaimed bodies in mass graves. DNA samples will be taken from each body in the hope of future identification. Officials stated that the nation lacks the infrastructure to store bodies until they can be identified by relatives, and the sheer number of deceased makes coping impossible.
"We do not have the infrastructure to keep these bodies until they are identified by their loved ones," an official told the Daily Mail. "The scale of the disaster is so big that we cannot cope with the number of dead we are finding, and we have not been able to identify the majority of them." He added that photographs and DNA samples would be taken to aid potential later identification and ensure dignified burials.
Hospitals in Kathmandu and surrounding areas are overwhelmed. The Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital is holding around 60 bodies and treating 30 survivors, including a five-year-old girl named Manisha who was rescued after being trapped under rubble for nearly four days. "Our morgue only has capacity for 50 people, and we cannot take any more," said hospital spokesman Dr. Gopal Sedain. "From tomorrow, the bodies of those found in the flood will be taken to an area outside Kathmandu and buried."
Heartbreaking scenes have unfolded outside hospitals as relatives search for missing loved ones. Posters bearing photographs and details of the missing line hospital walls, with contact information for families. A website has been established by the Nepal police to list the deceased, featuring disturbing images of decomposed and mutilated faces that are barely recognizable.
The decision for mass burials is particularly distressing for the Nepalese population, many of whom are Hindu or Buddhist and traditionally cremate their dead. "For us that is something very sacred. Our only hope is that if my brother is buried, we will be able to identify him in the future and then we will take his body and do a traditional cremation," said Shaligram, searching for his brother who served in the army. He expressed hope that traditional cremation would bring peace to his brother's soul.
Similar desperate searches are ongoing at other medical facilities across the affected region. The Kathmandu Trauma Centre is treating approximately 50 rescued individuals and has 20 bodies in its small morgue, which typically accommodates half that number. "It's not easy for us because this goes against Nepali traditions, but these are desperate times for our nation," said hospital spokesman Ritu Raj Aral.