Nepal Floods: DNA Drive to Identify the Dead

Nepal is using a DNA drive to identify victims of catastrophic floods as its army collects blood samples from relatives. The effort comes as morgues are full and hundreds of bodies have been buried unidentified.

Prakrit Gurung, 19, gave a blood sample on Tuesday morning, hoping her DNA will be linked to her mother's body. Her father's body has already been identified from a picture. An Australian citizen was among the first 14 people to attend, having flown to Nepal after his brother, a Nepali citizen, went missing.

DNA Collection Effort Expands

Authorities are asking relatives abroad to send their DNA profiles, and several Australian families have already provided samples. Army official Rameshwor Adhikari stated they are collecting blood from siblings or direct relatives. People are arriving from across the Kathmandu valley and the country. He described the situation as a disaster and a natural calamity.

The operation began with 37 people on its first day, but numbers are growing. The army has set up more shade tents for those waiting. Adhikari urged as many people as possible to come forward.

Official figures confirm more than 1,000 people dead and nearly 4,000 reported missing. As of Wednesday morning, 38 of the missing are Australian nationals. Family members of 25 missing Australians recently called for more government support to bring their loved ones home.

Survivors in Cut-Off Villages Desperate

Contact has still not been established with some areas along the Chinese border a week after the floods. Lhakpa Gha, 53, from the village of Timure in the worst-hit upper Rasuwa district, lost seven family members. They were her father, brother-in-law, son, daughter-in-law, their four-year-old granddaughter, her daughter, and her sister's brother.

Gha and her husband survived because they were in Kathmandu. She said she lost her whole family and that they have lost everyone. She is among about 200 people from the upper region sheltering at a Buddhist monastery; they were higher on the mountain when the flood hit.

Gha says the army has not reached her village, citing high risk. She said they are fighting with them, arguing that if it's high risk, action is needed. Her son and daughter, both village doctors, stayed behind to provide for the family. She said they have nothing and depended on her son for money.

A UN report this week stated it could take weeks to reach the upper areas, as roads and bridges have been destroyed.

Aid Groups Face Severe Access Challenges

If the army cannot get in, aid groups face the same blockade. Amy Sagitta Lefevre from Save the Children, speaking from a Kathmandu warehouse, confirmed aid is getting through to a point. Her teams have reached Rasuwa by road, but supplies that cannot go further are stored at army barracks.

She said the challenging bit for rescue workers is the same challenging bit for aid organisations, because they have the same access issues.

The agency is distributing kits with makeshift tents and setting up mobile toilets. They are also providing non-food items like blankets, ropes, and tarpaulin sheets for people sleeping exposed. Buckets and dignity kits for women, including pregnant women, are being handed out. The kits contain items like an extra sari, as some mothers are still wearing clothes from the day of the disaster.

Child Welfare and Health Concerns Mount

Save the Children estimates about 2,600 children will need medical treatment for severe wasting, and more than 100 may have been separated from their parents. The agency has set up a field office, recognizing full recovery could take over a year.

Workers are worried about disease spread, water contamination, and overcrowded shelters. They are also deeply concerned about the potential for child trafficking in the chaos. Lefevre noted that this area of Nepal has historically been a hotbed for child trafficking of girls. While anecdotal reports suggest it may have lessened recently, the disaster has raised acute fears that children, particularly girls, could be trafficked.