Nepal: Over 4,000 people are still missing after floods

The most recent balance sheet of the National Authority for the Management and Reduction of Risks of Nepalese Disasters (NDRRMA) is in 1,399 the number of recovered bodies and remains and 4,089 the number of missing persons.

Among the missing, there are two Portuguese.

Only 103 deaths have been handed over to their families to date, while authorities are continuing a major operation to identify the recovered remains. Many bodies were temporarily buried in sites such as Gokarna or Pokhara after collection of genetic samples.

According to the Nepalese police, the authorities have collected about 3,200 DNA samples, of which 1,300 refer to the recovered remains and 1,900 from relatives seeking their loved ones, including samples obtained abroad to help identify missing tourists.

On Monday, the Nepalese Prime Minister, Balendra Shah, met with the leaders of the local governments of Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha and Tanahun — the areas most affected by the floods — to discuss the ongoing search operations and the future reconstruction plan, the cost of which the government estimated exceeds $4,7 billion (EUR 4,08 billion).

“ The representatives of the population expressed their commitment to develop green areas in the riverside regions affected by floods and to move forward with the relocation of communities to nearby safe places,” NDRRMA director Dharam R. Uprety wrote on Monday, on social network Facebook.

Analyses so far indicate that the 26 August floods began with the collapse of a high-altitude glacier in Nepalese territory — an explanation accepted by China and later corroborated by international satellite analyses.

The avalanche of ice, rocks and mud also struck Tibet, where the Chinese authorities accounted for 43 dead and 519 missing. Among the people not yet located, 261 are foreigners from 23 countries.