POKHARA: Seventy-six of 102 bodies brought to Pokhara following the Bhotekoshi flood have been in temporary graves.
The bodies were buried with the help of police in the forest area near the irrigation dam in Pokhara-16 with the help of police, according to the District Administration Office, Kaski.
SP Nabin Karki, chief of the District Police Office, Kaski, said each body has been tagged. “If a DNA match occurs in the future and family members wish to claim the remains, the bodies can be exhumed,” he added.
According to Assistant Chief District Office of Kaski, Chhitrangat Baral, 19 of the 102 bodies brought to Pokhara were identified and handed over to their respective relatives.
The 76 bodies that remained unidentified even after six days were stored through temporary burial, while seven bodies are still kept in the hospital morgue.
“These seven bodies will be kept in the morgue for a few more days in hopes that family members might come forward to identify them. If no one claims them, those bodies will also be buried,” Baral added.
Hospital morgues in Pokhara started receiving bodies of Bhotekoshi flood victims on Thursday. A total of 102 bodies were retrieved from Gorkha, Tanahun, Dhading and Nawalparasi East and sent to Pokhara. Forty bodies were recovered in Nawalparasi East, 27 in Dhading, 24 in Tanahun and 11 in Gorkha.
Nine bodies were kept at the Manipal Teaching Hospital in Phulbari, Pokhara-11, while the rest were placed in the morgue at the Pokhara Academy of Health Sciences in Ramghat, Pokhara-10.
Officials say post-mortem examinations for all bodies were completed by Monday and DNA samples have been collected from all victims.
