Families of Nepal Flood Missing Lose Hope as Search Enters Fifth Day

On August 30 (local time), marking the fifth day since massive floods devastated the Himalayan mountainous region along the Nepal-China border, the survival chances of the missing are growing increasingly slim, intensifying 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 massive floods surged to a total of 2,498 (including 589 foreigners) as of this day. Families searching for them flocked to rescue bases and hospitals where the injured were brought, spanning from affected areas in the central Bagmati Province to the capital city of Kathmandu.

The previous day, at a major rescue base in the Bidur area of Bagmati Province, Kalka Sharda searched for the name of his 18-year-old son, Binod Sharda, a hydropower plant worker, on a list of survivors posted on a military base wall. He told AFP, "I cannot find his name on the list, and the authorities are saying nothing."

He lamented, "If he were alive, he would have found some way to make contact," adding, "It seems there is no hope left."

Even at major public hospitals in Kathmandu, family members and relatives clutching photos of the missing gathered from early in the morning, meticulously checking lists of the injured while moving between information desks and hospital bulletin boards.

Dil Maya Lama, who traveled about 130 kilometers to this location 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." She shed tears as she said, "However, there is no information about my brother at all."

At the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, where dozens of survivors are receiving treatment, photos of the dead and missing plastered the walls while about 60 people anxiously awaited news of the missing and registered their personal information with nearby police.

Resham Tamang (28), who comes to this place every day to find five friends and relatives who worked in the Rasuwa district, told Bloomberg the previous day, "It is already the fourth day, but there is no news at all," sighing that "there is almost no hope."

The previous day, at the entrance of a military barracks in the Nuwakot area of Bagmati Province, Priti Karel searched for her younger brother, Milan Karel, who worked as a geotechnical engineer at Doosan Enerbility, holding flyers containing her brother's photo.

While expressing hope that some personnel might still be alive inside the tunnels of the hydropower plant construction site, Karel told the AP, "It is already the fourth day," and added, "I hope the government will rescue him as soon as possible."

As the death toll climbed to at least 734 in Nepal alone by this day, morgues across national hospitals became saturated, and bodies unable to enter refrigeration facilities began to decompose.

Consequently, Reuters reported that after burying about 100 unidentified bodies the previous day, Nepali authorities were digging graves to bury hundreds more unidentified bodies on this day as well.

Nevertheless, authorities are carrying out tasks such as collecting DNA samples, taking photographs of the bodies, and recording identification information so that families can confirm identities even after burial.

Police officer Anil Thapa told Reuters, "Many bodies are unrecognizable. In some cases, only hands or legs remain, or only body parts are found," adding, "More than half of the bodies recovered so far are in an unrecognizable state."

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

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