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Nepal sets up temporary storage after bodies recovered far downstream overwhelm morgues

Bodies of people swept away by the devastating Bhote Koshi floods in Nepal are being recovered far downstream, overwhelming morgues and forcing authorities to set up temporary facilities to store and identify the remains, according to a media report.

Bodies recovered from Rasuwa and Nuwakot have been found as far downstream as Chitwan, Tanahun, Nawalparasi, Gorkha and other districts, with morgues in several areas running out of space, The Kathmandu Post reported.

The Bhote Koshi flash floods struck Nepal on Wednesday, sweeping through Rasuwa and other districts before surging downstream along the Trishuli and Narayani river systems, causing widespread loss of life and damage to settlements, roads, bridges and hydropower infrastructure.

In Chitwan, where the number of recovered bodies has exceeded hospital capacity, authorities are preparing a temporary body storage centre in Bharatpur, the report said.

An unused building of the Industrial Enterprise Development Institute on Vidhyut Road in Bharatpur Metropolitan City-10 will be converted into the facility, following a decision taken at a meeting chaired by Chitwan Chief District Officer Ganesh Aryal on Thursday, it said.

Early Thursday, 137 bodies were recovered along the Chitwan stretch of the Trishuli and Narayani rivers, between Phishling and Golaghat, with recoveries continuing.

The growing number of recovered bodies has also prompted families of missing people to travel to Chitwan from Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Gorkha and other districts in search of their relatives.

Morgues at hospitals in Chitwan can collectively accommodate between 30 and 50 bodies, Aryal said, adding that the temporary facility is expected to have space for around 250 bodies. If that capacity is also exceeded, authorities have decided to use the electric crematorium at Devghat as an additional option, according to the report.

‘A second life’: Nepal flood survivors recount terrifying escape, loss, devastation

For Raju Budhathoki, a customs agent in Nepal's Rasuwa district, Wednesday morning began like any other day but soon turned into a desperate fight for survival as the ground shook and raging floodwaters swept away homes before his eyes.

Budhathoki was resting in his room in Timure when, around 8:45 am (local time), the hillside began shaking violently, according to a report by The Kathmandu Post. Believing an earthquake had struck, he ran outside and towards a nearby police post, only to find policemen themselves fleeing the area.

As he scrambled over a wire fence, he injured his hand but kept running. Looking back, he saw houses in the Timure market being swept away one after another by the floodwaters.

He eventually reached a forest about 500 metres uphill, where he took shelter and survived.

“From the forest, when I looked down at Timure, I never imagined I would get a second chance at life like this. Now everything feels like a terrible dream,” the newspaper quoted him as saying from his hospital bed in Trishuli.

Budhathoki was among the survivors of the catastrophic Bhote Koshi flash flood and landslides that devastated the Nepal-Tibet border area in Rasuwagadhi and several settlements downstream.

Police and rescue teams had recovered hundreds of bodies by Thursday night, while hundreds more remained missing.

Another customs agent, Prakash Gautam, also described a terrifying escape from Timure.

Gautam told The Kathmandu Post that a loud rumbling sound was followed within moments by darkness engulfing the market and a black cloud covering the sky.

“I ran out of my room without knowing what I was doing. I had no idea where to go or which way to run. I just wanted to survive,” he said.

“From the forest above, I could see bodies scattered and floating in the floodwaters. Before my eyes, beautiful Timure was reduced to ruins. The houses and settlements were swept away. Now there is nothing but a vast expanse of sand and mud,” he said.

Unable to be rescued during the day, Gautam and others spent Wednesday night in a forest, surviving on packets of noodles dropped by a Nepal Army helicopter, according to the report.

A Nepal Army helicopter arrived around 10 am on Thursday and flew them to Bidur.

“Only after boarding the helicopter did I feel that I had actually survived,” Gautam said.

For Tulsi Bahadur Bhandari of Dolakha, survival came after he was violently thrown towards a hillside by the floodwaters.

A torrent of black mud and water suddenly engulfed the settlement, collapsing houses one after another, Bhandari told the newspaper.

“I ran. But the force of the flood hit me and threw me violently,” he said, adding that being pushed towards the slope prevented him from being swept away.

“If the current had not thrown me towards the slope, I would not be alive today,” he said.

At hospitals and shelters in Bidur, Trishuli and Kathmandu, survivors are now recovering from their injuries while struggling to process the loss of homes, relatives, colleagues and friends.

Ram Kumar Rana, who was caring for injured relatives at a hospital, said some people were buried under sand and mud as they tried to flee the flood.

“The surge hit them as they were running and buried them. Rescue teams, with the help of helicopters, later pulled them out and brought them here,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.

He said children panicked amid the chaos, with some falling and suffering injuries.

The destruction has also left families across the affected districts desperately searching for missing relatives.

In Trishuli in Nuwakot district, families gathered at Sainik Maidan on Thursday to provide information about those who had disappeared.

“My father is there. He worked at a hydropower project in the affected area. He is missing. He was on duty that morning, and we have not been able to contact him since,” a local resident told PTI Videos.

Another survivor from Rasuwa described the devastation in stark terms.

“Nothing is left there. I have lost everything,” the survivor told PTI Videos, adding that both his father and mother were missing.

Some survivors said they received alerts asking people living near the river to evacuate but had little time to escape.

“We received a news alert here at around 9:35, saying that the floodwaters had moved away and that everyone living in the river area should evacuate. But we simply did not get enough time to leave,” a local resident told PTI Videos.

“There used to be two bridges here. Now, there are hardly any houses left; only a few houses remain. I don't know how the government will manage the situation,” the resident said.

Rescue teams from the Nepal Army and other security agencies have continued searching for survivors and those still missing in Rasuwa, Dhading, Nuwakot and Chitwan districts.

A rescue team member told PTI Videos that the full scale of the casualties was yet to be established, with initial reports indicating a massive loss of life and nearly 1,000 people missing.

The flash flood, which originated in the Tibet region and surged into the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river systems, washed away bridges and local structures and severely damaged infrastructure, the rescue team member said.

Khagendra Sunar, a member of Nepal's Parliament, said relocating survivors to safer areas and rebuilding the devastated settlements would require considerable time.

“Restoring the markets and the area will certainly take a lot of time. But the people who have survived need to be shifted to safer places,” Sunar told PTI Videos.

“Every party is contributing as this is a major disaster. It is not just the government's responsibility; it is the responsibility of all of us,” he said.

The devastating floods have also affected foreign nationals. Thousands remain missing, including nationals of more than 30 countries, while 288 Indian nationals are among those unaccounted for, according to Nepalese and Indian authorities.

As rescue operations continue, survivors are left to confront a painful reality: they escaped the waters, but many have returned to find their homes, workplaces and communities erased.

For those who survived, the relief of being alive is now intertwined with the grief of those who did not make it out.

'For those fulminating in outrage', Tharoor clarifies 'drama' remark in Nepal floods post

Panned for using the word "drama" in a post on the Nepal flash floods, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday clarified that the term is also defined as "a state, situation or series of events involving intensely clashing forces" and that is the sense in which he intended it.

Tharoor, however, said he regrets the choice of a word that could be so easily "misinterpreted".

"For all those fulminating in outrage about my use of the word 'drama' in my first tweet from Nepal, the word does not only mean something theatrical. It is also defined as 'a state, situation or series of events involving intensely clashing forces'," the Thiruvananthapuram MP said on X.

"That's the sense in which I intended it. But I do regret the choice of a word that could be so easily misinterpreted," Tharoor said.

His remarks came a day after he was panned for describing the Nepal flash floods as "drama that had taken place in the hills" and overlooking the nuance of the words.

The comment led to a veritable backlash on social media, with one post questioning the "poor choice of words for someone with such a rich vocabulary" and others labelling him insensitive.

Expressing concern over the disaster in an X post on Thursday, Tharoor said, "Took off for Kathmandu yesterday, blissfully unaware of the drama that had taken place in the hills and caused such catastrophic damage." He went on to say, "A severe, sudden flash flood struck northern Nepal's Rasuwa district near the Tibet border, causing widespread destruction along the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers. Global warming and/or an earthquake in Tibet may have caused a large chunk of a glacier to break off and fall into the valley below, experts surmise." The Thiruvananthapuram MP had said he learned on arrival about the loss of life and the fact that some 2,000 or more people are estimated to be missing.

Sikkim forms task force for residents missing in Nepal floods

Sikkim has formed a task force to assist residents stranded or missing in Nepal after the flash floods, an official said Friday. Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority Director Prabhakar Rai will head the panel, which will coordinate with the Centre, Indian Embassy in Nepal and other agencies.

"It will collect, compile and verify information regarding persons reported missing, stranded, injured, deceased or otherwise affected in the incident," the official said.

The panel will contact families and share verified information on affected residents.

Nepal’s death toll reached 469, while 1,545 people were rescued. An ice-rock avalanche after a glacial collapse near the Nepal-Tibet border triggered the floods, damaging homes, roads, bridges and hydropower projects.

Maharashtra pilgrims leave Tibet, head to Kathmandu after floods

Thirty-seven pilgrims from Maharashtra stranded in Tibet after the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra left Saga early Friday for Kathmandu, after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis intervened to secure their return.

The group, comprising pilgrims from Thane, Pune, Raigad, Alibag and Dombivli, crossed through the Nyalam check-post around 6 am and was travelling safely toward the Nepalese capital. Their flight home is scheduled for 2 pm on August 29.

The pilgrims had been held at Saga as floods hit Nepal while they were returning from the pilgrimage. Nitin Shirke and Rakesh Jitekar informed Fadnavis of their situation through Maharashtra BJP president Ravindra Chavan.

Fadnavis then directed officials to act, prompting the state government to coordinate with the Ministry of External Affairs, which provided assistance for their onward travel.

"The pilgrims expressed their gratitude to Fadnavis, the Maharashtra government, and the MEA for their swift intervention during the crisis," the CMO said.

Earlier, Maharashtra’s Disaster Management Department said 114 people from the state were stranded in Nepal, with 53 confirmed safe.

Child rescued by Nepali Army

Nepali Army rescues a child as search and rescue operations continue.

Nepal floods expose gaps in glacial risk planning: Experts

Nepal’s flash floods have renewed calls for scientific assessments of glacial lakes and safer land-use planning in the Himalayas. The floods killed 270 people, while thousands, including 288 Indian tourists, remained missing. Bridges were swept away and about a dozen hydropower projects were crippled.

Researchers at ICIMOD are assessing whether an ice-rock avalanche caused the surge. Debris may have entered the Lende Khola, sending water, sediment and boulders downstream.

"It is related to climate change because the snow covers are reducing, the glaciers are receding, more rocky or barren areas are exposed -- they absorb more heat which makes the slopes more vulnerable," Mohd Farooq Azam said.

Glacial lakes are also increasing in Himachal Pradesh. Reet Kamal Tiwari said, "The first requirement is proper scientific assessment of potentially hazardous glacial lakes and their downstream areas."

Warning systems remain another concern. Soniya Rijal said, "What this event shows is that our warning systems, formal and informal, are built around rain."

Azam said land-use rules are urgently needed. "The problem is we are settling very close to the river and sometimes on the river. The urgency is to develop a land use policy," he said.

UK offers funds, emergency responders to Nepal

The UK has offered 5 million pounds and emergency responders to Nepal after flash floods in the country claimed hundreds of lives and left over a thousand missing, including around 33 British nationals.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Thursday described the scenes emerging from the region as “devastating" and urged British nationals caught up in the crisis to follow guidance from the local authorities.

He said immediate action already taken by the UK includes deploying consular support staff to the impacted area to facilitate round-the-clock support for British nationals.

“It’s a devastating picture that is emerging from what has happened in Nepal," Burnham told reporters during a visit to South Wales.

“An offer has been made of emergency responders to head to the region, but that’s obviously a matter for the Nepalese government. But also we’ve offered 5 million pounds to help with that response effort.

“Obviously, there are a number of British nationals who currently are thought to be missing and we’ll be providing all the support we can to their families in what is a very distressing and devastating situation,” he said.

Scientists probe glacial collapse, ice-rock avalanche behind Nepal floods

Scientists are examining how a possible glacial collapse and ice-rock avalanche may have triggered the devastating flash floods along Nepal's Bhote Koshi River, with preliminary assessments indicating that debris may have temporarily blocked the Lhende River and created a landslide dam that subsequently gave way.

Read the full article here

China says over 1,000 people evacuated

Chinese officials on Friday said more than 1,000 people, including 555 tourists, have been evacuated from Gyirong County near the Tibet-Nepal border after devastating flash floods that caused heavy casualties.