Nepalese authorities announced on Sunday that they had begun burying unidentified victims of the severe, devastating floods and landslides, after collecting DNA samples from each victim and marking the bodies so that families could later recover the remains of their loved ones.
Chinese state media reported 16 deaths in Tibet and 546 people missing.
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According to the latest preliminary tally of last Wednesday’s deadly floods, the death toll stands at 781, according to the national emergency response authority. More than 2,500 people remain missing, including 589 foreigners.
In Nepal, where the majority of the population is Hindu, the dead are traditionally cremated in ceremonies; therefore, burials are considered a temporary measure until families can recover the remains.
Foreign Minister Amrit Bahadur Rai told reporters that all victims who were buried were carefully recorded.
“In accordance with standard and recognized protocols, such as those of the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross), the bodies of the deceased, especially those that are unidentifiable, have been temporarily buried,” he emphasized.
Faced with a growing number of bodies, Nepal has requested refrigerated storage units and DNA testing kits.
“We have reached out to various countries for refrigerated storage units. We will need more than a thousand, and we have begun receiving them,” Rai said.
“Many bodies have been recovered and have begun to decompose. In order to protect public health, we had to bury the bodies that were decomposing,” he added.
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