Bodies of those who lost their lives in the devastating Bhotekoshi flood are continuing to be found in large numbers.
Meanwhile, the mortuary at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu, is nearly full. According to Dr Gopal Chaudhary, a forensic expert at the hospital, 60 bodies from the Rasuwa flood have been brought in so far.
Of these, 8 have been identified, while postmortems are underway for 28. Dr Chaudhary said the mortuary can now accommodate a maximum of 10 more bodies.
“Our capacity is 150. 80 were already here before this, bodies whose identities hadn’t yet been established,” he said. “What we can still accommodate now is 70.”
He said that once 10 more bodies arrive, the hospital’s capacity will be full.
Dr Chaudhary has suggested that the relevant authorities move forward with a process for temporary body storage.
“A location needs to be identified through a proper process for temporary storage of bodies. This needs to happen at the government level,” he said.
He also said that most of the bodies brought in from the flood have arrived in a decomposed and severely damaged condition.
He noted that even keeping such bodies in refrigeration doesn’t solve the identification problem.
“There’s no point in just storing the bodies. The appropriate solution is burial. Keeping decomposed bodies in a freezer doesn’t help either,” he said. “The bodies coming in now are severely damaged. Most cannot be identified.”
