KATHMANDU — Nepalese authorities have identified only about 7% of the bodies recovered after a devastating flood triggered by a glacial collapse, leaving thousands of families waiting for news of missing relatives.
Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said approximately 5,200 people remained missing, including 636 foreign nationals. At least 1,399 people were killed after torrents of mud, rocks and water swept through mountain communities and hydropower facilities.
Authorities have collected DNA samples from 1,206 bodies and 1,889 samples from relatives of missing people. However, only 105 bodies have so far been identified and returned to their families.
Thermal-imaging drones and helicopters have been deployed in the search, while specialist teams are working to rescue workers trapped inside tunnels. Several people have been pulled alive from tunnels at hydropower plants, offering rare breakthroughs in the ongoing operation.
The search has been complicated by restricted airspace, rugged mountainous terrain and the enormous volume of debris left behind by the flood. Families of foreign nationals said updates on the rescue effort had become less frequent as the operation continued.
The disaster management authority said it was providing information to foreign embassies and families through direct and indirect communication channels, while efforts to locate the missing and identify the dead remained underway.