Kathmandu: Relatives of people missing in the devastating flash floods in Nepal have been putting up posters outside the emergency gate of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, desperately searching for information about their loved ones.
The hospital administration has displayed photos of recovered bodies at the gate of the post-mortem block to help families identify the deceased, with officials updating the photos every hour.
The brother of a man who went missing in the floods, speaking to IANS, said, “This is my brother, who is still missing in Rasuwa. No information about him has been received yet. The last time I spoke to him was two days before the flood.”
Another man, while showing photos of his three brothers, said, “These are all my brothers; they are all drivers. They were taking their vehicle to China. The flood struck while they were on their way, and they went missing.”
Another survivor also thanked the rescue officials for their work and said, “In Rasuwa, the Nepal government and our rescue team are continuously engaged in safely evacuating people and searching for them, but so far, many people have not been located.”
Recalling the moment the disaster struck, another local said, “We were over there at the Customs Department. I was sleeping in the vehicle. After that, when I went to the market to have tea, the glacier burst occurred. As soon as I heard the warning, I ran uphill. However, many were trapped there; all of them are now missing.”
Another man spoke about his missing brother-in-law, saying, “My brother-in-law, that is, my wife’s brother, was working in a mess near the Rasuwa border. We got news of a flood coming from there. He had called and told us that a flood had hit there and everyone was in distress. About an hour later, when we called him, his phone was switched off.”
A woman searching for a missing family member said, “My elder brother’s grandson is missing. He had gone to the border to load a vehicle. His vehicle had been loaded, and he was about to leave from there. But just about five metres away, he met with an accident. Since then, up to now, there has been no contact with him.”
Meanwhile, in Nuwakot, family members of people who went missing in the flash floods have also gathered outside an Army camp, carrying photos of their loved ones and waiting anxiously for any information about their whereabouts.
With rescue and search operations continuing in the flood-hit areas, families across the affected districts remain hopeful of receiving information about those still missing, while authorities continue efforts to trace people and identify bodies recovered from the disaster.
(IANS)
