Kathmandu, September 7: A national day of mourning is being observed today in honour of those who lost their lives prematurely in the floods in the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa.
A Cabinet meeting held at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers in Singha Durbar on Bhadau 18 decided to observe today as a national day of mourning in honour of those who died in the floods. The national flag will be flown at half-mast at government offices across Nepal as well as at Nepali embassies and diplomatic missions abroad.
The Nepal Police Headquarters in Naxal said that the bodies of 1,342 people who died in the Bhotekoshi floods have so far been recovered. Likewise, 3,992 people are still missing following the floods.
According to the latest details, the recovered bodies include 530 men and 328 women, while 495 bodies remain unidentified. Central Police Spokesperson Abinarayan Kafle said that among those still missing, 2,827 are Nepali men and 567 are Nepali women. Similarly, 267 foreign men and 239 foreign women remain missing.
Security agencies have continued search and rescue operations for missing people, as well as the recovery and management of bodies, in the flood-affected areas. Police said 1,044 of the recovered bodies have been safely buried, while the identification and management of the remaining bodies are underway.
A total of 9,159 injured people have so far been rescued following the floods. Spokesperson Kafle said that 3,190 of those rescued have been safely accommodated at holding centres.
DNA testing has been given priority to identify missing persons and establish the identities of recovered bodies. Police said DNA samples have so far been collected from 2,376 people, including 1,181 deceased persons and 1,195 relatives of the deceased. Teams from the Nepal Police, Nepali Army, Armed Police Force and relevant government agencies have been deployed in the affected areas to search for missing people, conduct rescue operations, identify bodies and manage their remains.
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