Nepal begins burials for flood victims as death toll reaches 752
Nepal has started burying some of the hundreds of bodies recovered after recent devastating floods, taking DNA samples and marking them for later family retrieval. This measure is being taken as the country, where cremation is traditional, is overwhelmed by the number of deceased. Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai stated that all buried individuals were carefully recorded and appealed for international assistance, specifically requesting over a thousand freezer units to store bodies. The disaster ministry updated the toll to 752 bodies recovered and 2,502 people missing, including 589 foreigners. Chinese state media reported 16 deaths in Tibet and 546 missing, bringing the overall count to 768 dead and 3,048 unaccounted for. Rai explained that temporary burials followed standard protocols for unidentified remains, with DNA samples taken to allow families to identify and exhume bodies for rituals later. Nepal has requested freezer storage units and DNA testing kits due to the large number of decomposing bodies, which necessitated burials to preserve public health.
