Humanitarian crisis in Nepal: The tireless search for the missing after the floods
The tragedy caused by the recent floods in Nepal has left a devastating scene. With nearly 800 bodies and human remains recovered to date, the country’s morgues have exceeded their maximum capacity, turning the identification of the victims into a race against time and despair for hundreds of families.
The drama at the Kathmandu morgue
In front of Kathmandu’s main morgue, the scene is heartbreaking. Relatives crowd before a metal shutter covered in photographs. On one side, portraits of missing persons are displayed: smiling faces, selfies, and family memories. On the other, images of recovered bodies, many of them in an advanced state of decomposition or fragmented, where minimal details—such as a gold tooth, a scar, or an item of clothing—become the only hope for identification.
On this side are the missing. On that one, those who were found dead. We keep searching, we are still waiting.
Testimony of a relative searching for their brother.
Forensic challenges and saturation
The magnitude of the disaster has overwhelmed medical services. In centers like the Kathmandu Teaching Hospital, forensic experts are working under extreme pressure to obtain DNA samples and dental records due to the physical deterioration of the remains. The facility’s capacity, designed for a standard volume, has been vastly exceeded by the constant arrival of body bags from areas such as Rasuwa, Trishuli, and Dhading.
- Complex identification: When facial recognition is impossible, forensic teams rely on tattoos, jewelry, and personal belongings.
- Technology at the service of the search: Authorities have implemented a QR code system that redirects to a public database, allowing families to consult records of unidentified bodies in different districts.
- Mortuary saturation: Given the impossibility of preserving all bodies, the process of burying unidentified victims has begun in places like Chitwan, after rigorously recording their DNA and exact location for future claims.
A search that spans the territory
The flood currents have scattered human remains over dozens of kilometers, forcing relatives to scour entire districts in an agonizing search. As helicopters continue to land at military bases like the one in Nuwakot, the air grows heavy with the smell of decomposition, a constant sign of the magnitude of the catastrophe that still leaves thousands of people missing.
For people like Raj Bahadur Thapa, who has been searching for his brother after five days of uncertainty, the wait has become a cycle of visits to morgues and hospitals. Despite the efforts, his relative’s name does not appear on either the list of those found or those being sought, reflecting the reality of thousands of Nepalese who cling to hope in the midst of one of the worst natural crises in recent years.
