- Following devastating floods, Nepal has recovered over 550 bodies, while nearly 1,000 individuals remain missing across several heavily impacted districts.
- Overwhelmed hospitals face critical shortages of freezer storage, forcing staff to keep decomposing unidentified bodies in temporary outdoor areas and corridors.
- Forensic teams are utilizing photographs, physical marks, and DNA testing to identify victims and help families perform final rites amid challenging conditions.
- The tragedy underscores the urgent need for a national disaster management system with improved morgue capacity and specialized forensic resources for future emergencies.
Kathmandu, Nepal: Many people are arriving at hospitals carrying photographs of their missing relatives. There is hope in some eyes and fear in others. Some are praying that their loved ones will be found alive, while others are preparing for the painful possibility of finding their bodies so they can perform the final rites.
But in the aftermath of the flood tragedy, the search for missing family members has become another painful journey. Although a large number of bodies have been recovered, most remain unidentified. A shortage of storage space, rising temperatures and limited forensic manpower have made it increasingly difficult to identify and manage the bodies with dignity.
As of the time of preparing this report, 553 bodies had been recovered from different districts. Of these, 13 were found in Rasuwa, 38 in Nuwakot, 40 in Dhading, 44 in Gorkha, 134 in Nawalpur, 28 in Nawalparasi, 29 in Tanahun and 221 in Chitwan alone. Most of the bodies have yet to be identified. According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, 977 people remain missing.
These numbers are not just statistics. Behind every number is a family, a home and relatives waiting for someone they love.
Pressure Mounts in Chitwan, Anxiety Grows Among Families
Bodies swept away by the floods have been recovered in large numbers from areas around the Trishuli River, including Chitwan and Nawalparasi. As a result, pressure on Bharatpur Hospital has increased sharply.
By Thursday evening alone, 137 bodies had arrived at Bharatpur Hospital. The number was expected to reach around 200 by Friday. However, the hospital has only 24 freezer units for storing bodies. Most of them were already occupied by unidentified bodies recovered earlier.
As the number of bodies increased, the hospital's postmortem building and surrounding areas became overcrowded. Some bodies had to be kept in corridors and outdoor areas covered with tents. Police have been deployed to secure those areas.
The biggest concern is that the condition of the bodies deteriorates over time. High temperatures have already caused decomposition in some cases. Doctors say that while not all bodies are decomposing at the same rate, the process has already begun in some of them.
On one side, families are desperately searching for their loved ones. On the other, doctors and hospital staff are working with limited resources to preserve the bodies so they can be identified.
Priority Given to Bodies That Can Be Identified
Not all bodies recovered from the floods are in the same condition. Some remain intact, while others have begun to decompose after spending a long time in the water. Some have also been recovered in badly damaged condition.
For this reason, Bharatpur Hospital is currently giving priority to bodies that are intact and can potentially be identified. Returning identified bodies to their families allows relatives to perform the final rites and also helps reduce pressure on the hospital's limited storage facilities.
Forensic teams are photographing and recording videos of the bodies. They are also documenting distinctive physical marks, collecting fingerprints and completing necessary postmortem procedures. As the workload has increased, forensic experts have also been called in from other hospitals.
The process is equally difficult for grieving families. The hospital has arranged for relatives of missing people to view photographs and videos of the bodies and examine distinctive physical marks. If a relative believes a particular body resembles the person they are searching for, they can note the identification number and inform the police. The police then facilitate the process of showing the relevant body to the family.
The arrangement at least gives families some basis for their search instead of leaving them waiting indefinitely. But being asked to determine from a photograph whether a body belongs to a loved one is an extremely painful experience.
Identification of Bodies Increasingly Depends on Science
Not every body can be identified from facial features alone. When a body has deteriorated after remaining in water for a long time, dental records, fingerprints and DNA testing become important tools for identification.
Of the 25 bodies brought to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, five have so far been identified and handed over to their families following postmortem examinations. Necessary information and DNA samples are being collected to identify the remaining 20 bodies.
According to forensic experts, it is not necessary to conduct an invasive examination on every body. The external condition, facial features, clothing, injuries and distinctive physical marks can also help establish identity. Medical implants such as plates, rods and other metal devices inserted during previous treatment can also provide important clues.
However, in cases involving severely decomposed or badly damaged bodies, scientific testing may become necessary. Experts say bodies should be handed over to families only after identification has been confirmed through DNA or other reliable scientific methods when necessary.
Hospital Capacity Alone Is Not Enough
The crisis following the floods has exposed an important weakness: Nepal does not appear to have enough dedicated facilities to manage large numbers of deceased people during major disasters.
According to the Ministry of Health, hospitals across the country collectively have the capacity to store more than 600 bodies. However, this capacity is spread across different locations. Hospitals located far from affected areas cannot immediately be used when large numbers of bodies are recovered in one place. The ministry says the capacity of 16 hospitals has so far been mobilized.
This means the problem is not simply a shortage of freezers. The bigger question is where the bodies are recovered and how quickly they can be safely preserved there.
When hundreds of bodies are recovered in Chitwan or Nawalparasi, transporting all of them to Kathmandu presents another major challenge. The ministry is therefore working on options such as establishing temporary morgues near affected areas and using cold-storage facilities or refrigerated containers.
Respect for the Dead Is Also a State Responsibility
During a disaster, saving lives is naturally the first priority. Treating the injured is equally important. But once a person has died, ensuring that the body is respectfully preserved, identified and handed over to the family is also a responsibility of the state.
For unidentified bodies, legal procedures must be followed. Photographs, physical descriptions, clothing, identification documents, fingerprints, dental examinations and, where necessary, DNA testing may all be required.
However, if there is not enough space to safely store the bodies, all these procedures can be affected. If bodies cannot be preserved properly and promptly, their condition may deteriorate, making identification increasingly difficult.
Therefore, body management cannot be treated merely as a routine responsibility of individual health institutions.
The Experience of the 2015 Earthquake Is Being Repeated
Nepal also had to manage a large number of unidentified bodies following the 2015 earthquake. At the time, unidentified bodies were safely buried on the premises of institutions, including Teaching Hospital, as part of the emergency response.
Yet more than a decade later, the recurrence of similar problems during another major disaster is a serious concern.
Disaster preparedness does not simply mean having rescue teams, ambulances, medicines and emergency hospital capacity. Authorities must also have answers in advance to questions such as where large numbers of bodies will be stored, how they will be preserved, how they will be identified and how they will be returned to families.
Families Should Not Be Left Waiting Indefinitely
For doctors, police officers, forensic experts and health workers working in hospitals at present, this is not merely an administrative task. They are dealing with families who have lost loved ones and are desperately waiting for a definite answer.
For some families, that answer may be, “Your relative has been found.” For others, it may be a painful confirmation of death. But uncertainty is often the greatest source of suffering.
The immediate priorities, therefore, are to establish temporary morgues in affected areas, increase forensic manpower, prepare scientific records for every recovered body and establish an effective system for sharing information with families.
Conclusion: Make Body Management Part of Disaster Preparedness
The floods have not only swept away physical infrastructure; they have devastated the lives of countless families. Every body being recovered could belong to a missing member of someone's family. They must therefore never be treated merely as numbers or an administrative burden.
The current crisis has sent a clear message to the state: disaster management must extend beyond saving lives to ensuring dignity in death.
The shortage of morgue capacity, pressure on forensic personnel and the search for temporary arrangements demonstrate the need for a dedicated national system for managing human remains during major disasters in Nepal.
In the immediate term, adequately equipped temporary morgues should be established in affected areas. In the long term, Nepal should develop modern body-preservation centres in provinces and major disaster-prone areas while maintaining mobile refrigeration units, forensic equipment and trained personnel for emergency deployment.
The state's responsibility begins with saving lives during a disaster, but it does not end with death. Identifying the deceased, ensuring their dignity and facilitating their final journey back to their families remain essential responsibilities of the state.
