Many Bodies in Nepal Are Unrecognizable

In a forest outside the Nepali city of Bharatpur, 100 miles downstream from where Wednesday's catastrophic flood first struck, rows of numbered metal stakes now mark hundreds of graves. Authorities there have begun mass burials as bodies continue to wash up faster than the country can identify or store them, per the New York Times. A makeshift morgue in a government hall has been holding hundreds of corpses, their images looped on a TV screen for relatives who have traveled for hours in search of missing family members. But freezer capacity is limited, dry ice is scarce, and the monsoon heat is relentless. Officials opted for mass burials after weighing "the risk to public health posed by the rapid decomposition of the bodies," a local official tells Reuters.

Over the weekend, officials were burying about 100 bodies per day. As of Monday, nearly 800 bodies had been recovered and more than 4,200 people remained unaccounted for. The disaster began when part of a Himalayan glacier broke off, triggering a powerful torrent that tore through northern Nepal and into Tibet, sweeping away villages, workers, and tourists from dozens of countries. With roads, bridges, and communications destroyed, officials are documenting each body with photos, distinguishing details, and DNA before burial—a grim accounting they expect could stretch on for months. Many recovered bodies are "beyond recognition," with "no visible faces," an official tells Reuters. Some have been found as far away as India. Others may never be found.