Photo: Chandra Bahadur Ale A forensic doctor sees bodies constantly

From Onlinekhabar English

Photo: Chandra Bahadur Ale A forensic doctor sees bodies constantly. But nothing prepared Dr Salmali Yadav for what she found in Rasuwa’s flood zone. After the Bhote Koshi flood on August 26, Yadav’s forensic team was deployed to identify the dead in Timure, Syafrubensi, and nearby areas of Rasuwa. She’d assumed bodies would be brought to a hospital for examination, as usual. But once she reached Dhunche, she learned there was no road; the team would have to work at Timure itself, the site of the worst destruction. Flying in by helicopter on the morning of August 30, she recalled that the scene below looked like something out of a film; barely a building was left standing. Working without a mortuary There was no running water, no equipment, no proper space to lay out remains. The team had to carry buckets of water to wherever a body was found, just to clean it enough to examine. Many bodies were unrecognisable by face, so the team had to painstakingly note tattoos, scars, jewellery, and any scrap of remaining clothing, anything that might eventually help a family confirm identity. On the first day, they processed seven cases.