People searching for the whereabouts of their loved ones at the Pokhara Academy of Health Scienes.
POKHARA: Three families have claimed the same body recovered from the Bhotekoshi flood, forcing officials in Pokhara to resort to DNA testing to establish the victim’s identity.
The body was among 102 brought to Pokhara from flood-hit areas in Gorkha, Tanahun, Dhading and Nawalparasi East. Three families claimed it was that of their relative after viewing its photograph at the morgue.
Police have collected blood samples from six people from the families making the claims and sent them to the Nepal Police Central Forensic Science Laboratory for DNA testing, according to Police Inspector Deepak Rijal of the District Police Office, Kaski.
Of the 102 bodies brought to Pokhara, only 15 have been identified so far and handed over to their families and relatives.
Chitrangat Baral, the spokesperson for the District Administration Office, Kaski, said the 15 identified victims include Satyasundar Prajapati, 36, of Bhaktapur Municipality-9; Yadav Bhandari, 37, of Nawalparasi East; Divananda Subedi, 38, of Sandakpur-3, Ilam; Uddhav Khadka, 36, of Hetauda-5, Makwanpur; Narayan Bahadur Thapa, 45, of Panini-7, Arghakhanchi; Sanjog Gharti Magar, 42, of Khaniyabas-5, Dhading; and Sharada Dhakal, 45, of Bidur-7, Nuwakot.
Similarly, bodies of Dipendra Bista, 34, of Tansen-10, Palpa; Yam Bahadur Thapa, 55, of Palungtar-6, Gorkha; Pratinsh Tamang, 5, of Bidur-10, Nuwakot; Purushottam Raila, 3, of Betrabati Bazaar, Rasuwa; Dik Bahadur Kayastha, 46, of Panchkhal-6, Kavre; Santosh Chaudhary, 28, of Khadak-5, Saptari; and Kedar Pandit, 40, of Palungtar-5, Gorkha.
Officials say it would be difficult to identify around 20-22 mutilated bodies. They say there are some body parts only, such as an arm or a leg.
Most relatives have been trying to identify the bodies using physical clues, including clothing, jewelry, tattoos and distinctive marks on different parts of the body.
Photos of the bodies kept at the morgue of the Pokhara Academy of Health Sciences have been displayed to help relatives identify their missing family members.
Of the 102 bodies brought to Pokhara, nine have been kept at Manipal Teaching Hospital, while the remaining bodies are at the morgue of the Pokhara Academy of Health Sciences.
Forensic experts have been deployed alongside medical teams conducting postmortem examinations in Pokhara. They are collecting DNA samples from all bodies.
