MASS BURIALS OF DECOMPOSING BODIES
Days after desperate relatives moved between hospitals, morgues and relief centres searching for loved ones, authorities in Nepal began mass burials of hundreds of unidentified victims whose bodies had started to decompose.
In Chitwan district, which escaped the direct impact of the disaster, bodies swept downstream from the flood-hit Rasuwa region have been carried by the river system into the Narayani River.
Authorities are photographing the bodies, collecting DNA samples and recording identifying details in the hope that families may still be able to identify relatives after burial.
“Of the bodies we have recovered so far, more than half are beyond recognition,” police officer Anil Thapa told Reuters.
“Many have no visible faces. In some cases, only hands or legs remain; in others, only parts of the body are available. In many cases, more than half of the head is missing.”
After burying more than 100 unidentified bodies on Saturday, authorities were digging additional graves on Sunday for hundreds more.
LINK TO “LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE”
The flood was “caused by glacier instability under the long-term effects of global warming”, CCTV reported, saying it was a “new and prominent feature of cryosphere disasters” on the Tibetan plateau.
The mudslide from the Nepalese side took six to seven minutes to reach the Gyirong border crossing, CCTV said, citing the findings of Chinese scientists. Dramatic surveillance footage shared worldwide showed torrents of water and debris engulfing buildings while people tried to flee.
The state-run TV channel reported China has mobilised more than 2,100 rescue workers and allocated at least 220 million yuan (US$32.7 million) to support relief efforts and has been airdropping equipment and supplies to frontline rescuers, while its soldiers used life-detection equipment to look for the missing.
