Families in Nepal are giving DNA samples and holding symbolic funerals for missing relatives as the death toll from devastating Himalayan floods rises.
The disaster drew renewed attention to the climate risks facing countries that have contributed little to global warming.
At least 1,225 people have been reported dead and 4,757 remain missing in Nepal and China after a glacial collapse sent a massive surge of freezing water, rocks and debris down the China-Nepal border on Aug. 26, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) report.
Nepal has recovered 1,204 bodies, while 4,216 people remain missing. Chinese state media reported 21 dead and 541 missing. Rasuwa district, the first and hardest-hit area in Nepal, has been left with widespread destruction.
“We have to face the reality: this flood is far bigger than anything we could have thought of,” government official Dhruba Prasad Adhikari told AFP, describing the disaster as “unimaginable.”
In Kathmandu, hundreds of people lined up to provide DNA samples in hopes of identifying relatives among the bodies recovered after the floods. Mortuaries have overflowed, and some bodies have already been buried.
“It’s been a week since my father has been out of contact, so now I am here to give a DNA sample,” Susmita Lo, 21, told AFP while holding her 6-year-old nephew, whose father is also missing.
“At nighttime, he calls for his father, but we have not told him that he is missing. He is too young,” she added.
Some families have begun holding last-rite ceremonies for relatives they no longer expect to find alive.
“We had to do this to set his soul free, so that he is at peace and happy wherever he is,” Dolma Newar Tamang said during a funeral for her husband.
Rescue teams are still searching for survivors, including in hydropower tunnels buried under sludge and debris. So far, rescuers have recovered only bodies from the tunnels, but teams continue to dig, drill and blast through the wreckage.
Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said authorities had not given up hope of finding survivors. “Miracles do happen. At this point, I do not want to completely give up hope,” he said.
The disaster has also highlighted Nepal’s exposure to climate change despite contributing little to global greenhouse gas emissions.
Scientists say the Himalayas are warming rapidly as global temperatures rise, accelerating glacier melt across the region.
Glaciers in the wider Himalayan and Hindu Kush ranges are a crucial water source for about 240 million people in mountainous areas and another 1.65 billion people downstream.
Prime Minister Balendra Shah said the catastrophe was “a serious indication” of the risks facing Nepal and called for greater international responsibility.
“Climate change is a global contribution, and disaster response is also a global responsibility,” Shah said in a social media post.
A preliminary United Nations assessment estimated damage to buildings alone at $158 million. Total losses are expected to be much higher once damage to roads, bridges and agricultural land, as well as humanitarian costs, are included.
Nepal has warned that reconstruction could cost billions of dollars. Shah described the disaster as a national “thunderbolt” in an address to parliament on Wednesday.
“My heart chills when I hear the cries of flood victims,” he said.
“But we have no time to rest simply because our bodies are tired. Even with broken hearts, there is no time to sit and mourn together,” he added.
More than 800 foreigners from more than 30 countries are among the missing, including tourists who came to trek in the Himalayas and Hindu pilgrims traveling to Mount Kailash in Tibet.
At least 17 bodies have also been recovered from rivers downstream in India.
