More than two weeks after the Rasuwa flood, officials have stated that obtaining the exact number of human casualties is “immediately impossible” and that “the process of identification and confirmation could take years.” Abi Narayan Kafle, the central spokesperson for Nepal Police, said, “We still do not have accurate data on the missing individuals. Some bodies may never be recovered.” According to police figures, nearly 1,400 bodies have been found, but only around 500 have partial remains. Among these, families have been able to claim approximately 100 bodies.
There is a discrepancy of about 1,300 between two government agencies, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) and the police, regarding the number of missing persons. As of Tuesday evening, the authority reported approximately 5,300 individuals as uncontactable, whereas the police confirmed around 4,100 as missing. Shanti Mahat, a spokesperson for the authority, stated, “The actual number of uncontactable persons might not be this high. Some could be deceased or rescued.” She added, “According to the law, unidentified bodies cannot be removed from the list of uncontactable persons.”
Police officials have described the challenge of body recovery as an “unprecedented problem.” According to central spokesperson Kafle, the police are preparing to launch a major search operation targeting collapsed houses, shelters, and similar structures along both banks of rivers from the border with China to India. “We are conducting extensive searches using drones, trained dogs, binoculars, and a large workforce,” Kafle explained. Recovery efforts near Trivenidham, more than 200 kilometers downstream from Rasuwagadhi checkpoint, have been ongoing for two weeks.
Madan Thapa, police spokesperson for Nawalparasi West near the Indian border, noted, “Even the intact bodies we found could not be identified based on facial features. The fragmented remains recovered pose an even greater challenge.” Although more than 200 bodies were collected, Thapa’s team succeeded in handing over only nine to families. “Those identifications were possible only through tattoos,” he said. “There is also a possibility that many remains may belong to the same person.”
