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Authorities have recovered 616 bodies as the death toll of the August 26 flash flood in Rasuwa district of Nepal continues to rise, while 2301 people were injured and rescued, Nepal Police said.
As the flash flood hit the Bhotekoshi river system on August 26, Chitwan district witnessed the highest death toll of 233, followed by 158 in Nawalparasi (East), 48 in Gorkha, 47 in Nawalparasi (West), 45 in Dhading, 41 in Nuwakot, 31 in Tanahun and 13 in Rasuwa. According to Nepal Police, 1,422 people were rescued from Nuwakot, 676 from Rasuwa and three from Dhading. A total of 4,811 police personnel have been deployed for rescue and relief in flood-hit areas of Nepal. The Himalayan nation only has the capacity to store about 350 bodies in morgues nationwide, which has led to a shortage of space to store the bodies until the families identify and claim them. The district of Chitwan has already been filled with the bodies of victims swept downstream, which has prompted authorities to set up temporary facilities. Along with this, hospitals in Pokhara have also reported that their morgues are filling up after bodies began arriving from several districts. "All of the bodies are being recovered from the river by deploying the police team. We first retrieve the bodies from the river, take close-up photos of the bodies; if the body is not clear, then we first clean the bodies and then keep them in the body bag, tag it and bring it to this temporary body management location. Here, we maintain the room temperature at zero degrees in the AC. We have been doing it because there is a problem in identifying the bodies of the victims. If some of the relatives of the missing persons come to inquire, then we display the photos of the recovered bodies. If they identify the bodies of their missing relatives, then we will hand them over after completing the procedures," Rameshwor Paudel, Superintendent of Nepal Police, told ANI. Rescue operations in Nepal''s Trishuli region have been temporarily suspended as heavy rain intensified, raising the river level and forcing authorities to halt helicopter operations due to adverse weather conditions. The worsening weather conditions have also prompted authorities to evacuate people from areas surrounding the rising river as a precautionary measure, officials said. Meanwhile, Nepal Police said that the road section between Kathmandu and Mugling is fully operational, with only a one-kilometre stretch at Baireni Bazar in Dhading operating under one-way traffic. (ANI)
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