Nepal buries unidentified flood victims in temporary mass graves

Dozens of unidentified flood victims were placed in numbered graves near a forested area in Kathmandu on Tuesday, as Nepal began temporary mass burials after the disaster. The numbering is intended to allow authorities to identify the dead later and return them to their families.

Before each burial, officials are taking DNA samples, photographing distinctive features and recording other information that could help establish the victims’ identities. The process reflects the scale of the disaster, with many families still waiting for confirmation about missing relatives.

Nepal’s disaster authorities say 1,003 people have been found dead and 3,916 remain missing. Among those missing are 583 foreign nationals. In Tibet, Chinese authorities have reported 16 deaths and 546 missing people after the flooding on Aug. 26.

Rescue teams are also searching for roughly 900 workers at 12 hydropower projects. About 500 are believed to be trapped in tunnels. At least 11,814 people have been rescued so far, but landslides, destroyed roads and large quantities of rock and mud are making the operation difficult.

The disaster began when a glacier collapsed in the Himalayas, sending huge amounts of rock, ice and meltwater down valleys and triggering severe flooding in Nepal and Tibet.