Nepal flash floods: Death toll crosses 1200, more than hundred bodies yet to be unidentified

KATHMANDU: The death toll from the flash floods that hit Nepal on August 26 has crossed 1,200. Reports say that more than 4,000 people are still missing. There are 165 unidentified bodies at Tribhuvan, the main hospital in Kathmandu. Doctors say it is difficult to obtain fingerprints or other identifying records from the bodies.

Unidentified bodies are being buried in areas to the north and northwest of Kathmandu. The burials began after it became impossible to preserve the bodies for longer. DNA samples have been collected to help identify the victims. Special numbers and information boards have been placed at each burial site to record the exact location of everybody.
These arrangements have been made so that, if the victims are identified later, the graves can be reopened and the bodies exhumed when necessary. In Chitwan too,

preparations are underway to temporarily bury the bodies. They are being buried at a depth of 1.5 metres so that they can be exhumed later if required.

The search is also continuing for missing Indians, including Malayalees. A forensic team from India is collecting and examining DNA samples at the Nepal Police Central Forensic Science Laboratory and Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. Rescue operations have been intensified amid suspicions that Indian workers may be trapped inside a tunnel in the Trishuli hydropower project area.