The bodies of people swept away by the Bhotekoshi flood are turning up far downstream, creating a growing challenge for authorities struggling to find places to store and identify them.

Remains from Rasuwa and Nuwakot have been recovered in Nuwakot and as far downstream as Chitwan, Tanahun, Nawalparasi and other areas.

With morgues in Nuwakot, Dhading and Nawalparasi running out of space, some bodies have been sent to neighbouring districts. In Chitwan, where the number of recoveries has exceeded hospital capacity, authorities are setting up a temporary facility. Hospitals in Pokhara have also reported that their morgues are filling up after bodies began arriving from several districts.

In Chitwan, authorities are preparing a temporary body storage centre in Bharatpur after hospitals struggled to cope with the number of bodies being recovered.

An unused building of the Industrial Enterprise Development Institute on Vidhyut Road in Bharatpur Metropolitan City-10 will be converted into the temporary facility. A meeting chaired by Chitwan Chief District Officer Ganesh Aryal on Thursday decided to bring the centre into operation.

As of 9:30am on Thursday, 137 bodies had been recovered along the Chitwan stretch of the Trishuli and Narayani rivers, from Phishling to Golaghat. Recoveries were continuing.

Aryal said morgues at hospitals in Chitwan can collectively accommodate between 30 and 50 bodies at a time. With that capacity already under pressure, the temporary centre is expected to provide space for about 250 bodies.

If even that capacity is exceeded, authorities have decided to use the electric crematorium at Devghat as an additional option.

Bharatpur Metropolitan City will repair and equip the temporary facility. Authorities plan to control the temperature inside the rooms, install air conditioners and use dry ice to slow decomposition.

The Chitwan Association of Industries, Chitwan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Ratnanagar Chamber of Commerce and Industry have agreed to arrange the dry ice.

Families arrive in Chitwan searching for the missing

As bodies continue to be recovered, relatives of people missing since the floods have begun arriving in Chitwan from Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Gorkha and other districts.

Even as workers prepared the temporary centre on Thursday, relatives were arriving at the premises seeking information about missing family members.

Yaman Banu sat under the shade of a tent in the intense heat, waiting for news of her two grandmothers, who lived in Trishuli Bazar in Nuwakot and had not been heard from since the flood.

Banu said her paternal grandmother, Sakala, and maternal grandmother, Najabun Nisha, remained missing.

Maya Baniya Khadka of Charkune in Palungtar-4, Gorkha, who had travelled on a pilgrimage to Gosainkunda, has also been missing since the flood.

Her two brothers, Krishna Bahadur and Hari Baniya, who live in Mangalpur-Bijayanagar in Chitwan, arrived at the temporary centre carrying her photograph and searching for information.

Relatives had begun gathering at the centre, but preparations for storing the bodies had not yet been completed. They said they hoped the work would be finished quickly so that they could find out whether their missing relatives were among those recovered.

Pokhara morgues reach capacity

Morgues in Pokhara are also filling up with bodies swept downstream by the Bhotekoshi flood.

Bodies have been brought to Pokhara after authorities in several districts ran out of space. A total of 93 bodies have been transported to the city from Tanahun, Gorkha, Nawalparasi East and Dhading.

Kaski Chief District Officer Kuman Singh Gurung said hospitals in the district, including Pokhara Academy of Health Science, have a combined capacity of 88 bodies.

The Pokhara Academy of Health Science can accommodate 72 bodies, Nepal Manipal Teaching Hospital eight, and Gandaki Medical College, Fishtail Hospital, Charak Memorial Hospital and Fewa City Hospital two each.

Five older bodies were already being kept in the morgues before the flood victims began arriving.

Nine bodies were brought from Tanahun on Wednesday, followed by 41 from Nawalparasi East, 27 from Dhading and 11 from Gorkha on Thursday.

“By the numbers, we are already above capacity,” Gurung said. “We have managed to accommodate them for now. If more bodies arrive, we will have to coordinate with nearby districts.”

Tanahun can accommodate another nine bodies, Lamjung four and Gorkha two, according to Gurung. If necessary, bodies may also have to be sent to Baglung, Parbat and Syangja.

Of the specialised body bags available for the operation, 117 have already been sent to Madhyabindu District Hospital in Nawalparasi East and the Nepal Red Cross in Nawalpur. Another 117 bags are being kept for use in Pokhara.

Sushil Aryal, information officer at Pokhara Academy of Health Science, said bodies are currently being stored in the morgue at temperatures between 2 and 6 degrees Celsius.

At that temperature, bodies can generally be preserved for only 10 days to two weeks, he said.

“Bodies can be kept like this for about 10 days to two weeks,” Aryal said. “If they need to be stored for longer, infrastructure capable of maintaining sub-zero temperatures is required. Pokhara does not currently have such a facility.”

More bodies are still being recovered, and the prolonged storage of unidentified remains could make the situation increasingly difficult, he said.

The hospital has sufficient body bags, protective equipment, personal protective equipment and personnel for post-mortem examinations, Aryal said.

Authorities prepare for unidentified bodies

Under the Unidentified and Unclaimed Bodies Management Guidelines, 2021, a committee headed by the district police chief is responsible for managing the remains, said Superintendent of Police Nabin Karki, the Kaski police chief.

Police first photograph the bodies, take fingerprints, conduct post-mortems and collect DNA samples. Where facial identification is possible, photographs are made public to help families identify their relatives.

“If relatives cannot be located or the bodies identified, we cannot keep them indefinitely because fingerprints and DNA samples are collected beforehand,” Karki said.

Authorities are preparing to coordinate with local units to designate secure locations where unidentified bodies can be buried.

Each body will be assigned a tag number, which will be recorded and retained with the burial information.

The burial site will be designated in coordination with the metropolitan city, after which the necessary procedures will be carried out, he said.

Police expect the number of unidentified bodies to increase as remains continue to arrive from different districts. The committee has therefore decided to coordinate with the central authorities and manage unidentified bodies within one to two weeks.

The identification process includes washing and cleaning the bodies, attempting facial identification, taking photographs and fingerprints, and collecting DNA samples where necessary.

DNA samples will be sent to Kathmandu for testing. Karki said DNA testing is available at the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology and the Nepal Police Central Forensic Science Laboratory.

Gorkha sends bodies to Pokhara

Eleven bodies recovered along the Trishuli river in Gorkha after being swept downstream by the Bhotekoshi flood have been sent to Gandaki Provincial Hospital in Pokhara, said Gorkha Assistant Chief District Officer Netra Prasad Sharma.

The bodies were transferred because the morgue at the provincial hospital in Gorkha had run out of space.

By Thursday evening, 39 bodies had been recovered in areas of Gorkha bordering the Trishuli river following Wednesday’s tragedy.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Raj Kumar Shrestha said the bodies were recovered from the riverbank on the Gorkha side.

Nawalparasi struggles to store the dead

Nawalparasi East is facing similar difficulties as the number of recovered bodies continues to rise.

With government health facilities and private hospitals running out of morgue space, some bodies have been sent to Pokhara, Butwal, Bhairahawa and Palpa.

Chief District Officer Jagadishwor Upadhyay said 41 bodies had been sent to Pokhara and eight to Palpa District Hospital.

The remaining bodies are being kept at Madhyabindu, Gaindakot and Devchuli municipal hospitals and the provincial hospital in Kawasoti.

“Bodies are still being recovered. The district does not have the infrastructure to manage such a large number of bodies,” Upadhyay said. “We are coordinating with neighbouring districts and Pokhara to manage them.”

Authorities are also preparing to use a community forest hall as temporary storage for bodies that cannot be accommodated in health facilities.

As the number increased, an additional air conditioner was installed at the Ankur Community Forest hall in Kawasoti Municipality-16, turning it into a temporary morgue. The hall has been equipped to preserve bodies safely for several days.

In neighbouring Nawalparasi West, 27 bodies had been recovered by Thursday evening, according to Deputy Superintendent of Police Madan Thapa of the District Police Office.

The growing number of bodies in Nawalparasi East and Nawalparasi West has exceeded the capacity of hospitals and other health facilities, forcing authorities to create temporary storage infrastructure.

Dhading sends bodies to Kathmandu and Pokhara

In Dhading, authorities have recovered 37 bodies and human remains swept downstream by the flood.

According to the District Police Office, the recovered remains include 12 men, 10 women, two bodies whose sex could not be determined and 13 human body parts.

Police have prepared the required records and sent the bodies and remains to different locations for safe storage.

The district lacks sufficient morgue space and refrigeration facilities, making preservation difficult. Six bodies have been sent to Kathmandu because local facilities could not safely store them.

The remaining bodies and human remains have been sent to the Western Regional Hospital in Pokhara, said DSP Prakash Dahal, spokesperson for the Dhading District Police Office.