Wailing While Holding Missing Relatives' Photos... 100 Bodies Buried as Morgues Reach Capacity

On August 30 (local time), the fifth day since massive floods devastated the Himalayan mountainous region along the Nepal-China border, the chances of survival for the missing are gradually diminishing, deepening the despair and sighs of their families searching for them.

According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority of Nepal, the number of missing persons within Nepal due to the catastrophic floods surged to a total of 2,498 (including 589 foreigners) as of this day. Families searching for them have flocked to rescue bases and hospitals treating the injured, stretching from disaster-hit areas in the central Bagmati Province to the capital, Kathmandu.

Kalka Sharda, searching for her 18-year-old son Binod Sharda, a hydropower plant worker, among a list of rescued individuals posted on the wall of a military base—a major rescue hub in the Bidur area of Bagmati Province—told AFP, "I cannot find his name on the list, and the authorities are saying nothing."

She lamented, "If he were alive, he would have found a way to contact us somehow. It feels like there is no hope left."

Since early morning, families and relatives clutching photos of the missing have also gathered at major public hospitals in Kathmandu, carefully checking lists of the injured as they move back and forth between information desks and hospital bulletin boards.

Dil Maya Lama, who traveled about 130 kilometers to Kathmandu to find her younger brother, an employee at a hydropower plant in the Rasuwa district, told the Associated Press, "I came here holding onto the hope that I could find my brother. But there is no information about him at all," she said, shedding tears.

At Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, where dozens of survivors are receiving treatment, the walls are plastered with photos of the dead and missing. Around 60 people, anxiously waiting for news of their missing loved ones, registered their personal information with nearby police officers.

Resham Tamang, 28, who visits the hospital every day to search for five friends and relatives who had been working in the Rasuwa district, told Bloomberg on the previous day, "It's already the fourth day, and there is no news at all. There is barely any hope left."

The previous day, at the entrance of a military barracks in the Nuwakot district of Bagmati Province, Priti Karel was searching for her younger brother, Milan Karel, a geotechnical engineer at Doosan Enerbility, while holding flyers bearing his photo.

While expressing hope that some people might still be alive inside the tunnels of the hydropower plant construction site, Karel told the AP, "It has already been four days. I hope the government rescues him as soon as possible."


As the death toll in Nepal alone climbed to at least 734 by this day, morgues across hospitals nationwide reached full capacity, and bodies that could not fit into refrigeration facilities began to decompose.

Consequently, Nepali authorities buried around 100 unidentified bodies the previous day and continued digging graves to bury hundreds more unidentified bodies on this day, Reuters reported.

However, authorities are conducting procedures such as collecting DNA samples, taking photographs of the remains, and recording identification details so that families can still verify identities after burial.

Police officer Anil Thapa told Reuters, "Many bodies are unrecognizable by face. In some cases, only hands or legs are left, or just parts of the body are found. More than half of the bodies recovered so far are unrecognizable."

Meanwhile, according to Nepali authorities, the total number of people rescued by rescue teams in Nepal as of this day reached 8,186, including 227 foreigners.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.