Photo: Aryan Dhimal More than 6,000 people remain missing following the devastat

From Onlinekhabar English

Photo: Aryan Dhimal More than 6,000 people remain missing following the devastating flood on the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa. Most of the bodies recovered so far cannot be identified. According to the latest figures, 1,403 bodies have been found. Of these, only 103 have been identified and handed over to relatives. The remaining 1,300 unidentified bodies have been buried underground. Some families of the missing have already given up hope of finding their loved ones alive and have performed final rites using effigies (kush bodies). DNA testing has now become the main basis for establishing links between unidentified bodies and missing persons. Samples collected from the bodies are being tested at the National Forensic Science Laboratory in Khumaltar and the Police Forensic Science Laboratory in Samakhushi. Nirajan Thapa, head of the DNA branch at the National Forensic Science Laboratory, told OnlineKhabar that if work continues at its current pace, completing the identification process, testing samples from both bodies and relatives, could take around two and a half months.