Nepal Flood Search Continues as Dozens Remain Missing, Including Australians

Families searching for relatives missing after catastrophic flooding in Nepal are gathering at a Kathmandu teaching hospital, where authorities are displaying photographs of unidentified victims and collecting DNA samples before burials begin. More than 100 people reportedly watched as new images were added to a wall at the hospital. Relatives filmed the photographs and compared them with images sent by family members elsewhere. Some bodies were heavily covered in mud, making identification difficult. Nepal has deployed about 15,000 army, police and other personnel to search areas cut off by destroyed roads, washed-away bridges and widespread debris. Search teams are also dealing with the threat of a newly formed lake bursting its banks. Officials are searching across three districts, with the highest district—where many Australians were last heard from—having been hit first and proving more difficult to access. The disaster followed the collapse of a glacier high in the Himalayas, sending water, ice and mud downstream. The reported death toll has risen to 669, while nearly 3,000 people remain unaccounted for. More than 550 people are also missing on the Chinese side of the affected area. Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has listed 42 Australians as missing, including six identified by Chinese authorities. The figure differs from the working headline’s count of 41. One of those listed is New South Wales man Michael Keats, whose family said he reached the Nepal-Tibet border shortly before the flooding struck. There has been at least one confirmed rescue involving an Australian. Cara Severino was located safely after consular officials determined her position. She said she escaped with other survivors using a tractor to leave a national park. Sagar Shrestha of the Nepal Red Cross Society said survivors were still being found, including people who had moved into forests or higher ground and were evacuated by helicopter. However, he said authorities were increasingly concerned about the “dignified management” of bodies as hospitals and morgues filled. Local media reported that DNA samples would be collected from 229 bodies in Chitwan district because decomposition had made identification increasingly difficult. Communications remain disrupted by damage to phone lines, power infrastructure and utility poles. The Australian ambassador to Nepal said search and rescue teams also faced continuing danger from mud, floodwater and possible heavy rainfall.