Nuwakot (Nepal) (AFP) – Clutching a photo of his missing son, Rajesh Ram is placing all his hopes in DNA tests, like thousands of other families without news of their loved ones since the deadly flood that hit Nepal at the end of August.

Published on: 02/10/2026 - 10:10

“I looked for him everywhere, but I couldn’t find his body,” Mr. Ram, 53, told AFP in despair.

His son, Suroj Kumar, was a mechanic in a garage in Betrawati, which was swept away by the floods.

On August 26, a wave of icy water, mud and debris caused by the collapse of a glacier and a section of mountain devastated a valley in northern Nepal, on the Chinese border.

More than a month after the flood, the scale of the identification task remains immense.

With thousands of DNA profiles to process, fragmented human remains and limited technical and human resources, experts estimate that establishing matches between the bodies found and the families could take weeks.

Nepalese authorities have recovered 1,454 bodies, around a third of which are fragmented human remains.

So far, only 112 bodies have been identified and returned to their families.

In addition, 5,285 people remain missing in Nepal, including hundreds of foreign nationals.

In China, the death toll stands at 43 dead and 519 missing, according to state media.

In total, this flood in the Himalayas left nearly 1,500 dead and 5,800 missing.

At Nepal's two forensic laboratories, both in Kathmandu, experts are working to profile the samples and build a database of unprecedented scale.

“Normally, we analyze between 1,000 and 1,500 samples per year, often as part of paternity (search) cases or criminal investigations,” explains Mukul Pradhan, scientific director of the national forensic medicine laboratory.

“Currently we are processing thousands of samples.”

In total, 3,685 samples are currently being analyzed for DNA, including more than 1,300 taken from bodies found.

Unbearable wait

Blood samples are easier to analyze, but those taken from teeth or bones can take several days.

More than 1,200 bodies were buried, having been carefully numbered and labeled so that they could eventually be exhumed if a DNA match was found.

“A large number of people are missing, and the bodies that have been found are difficult to identify,” explained Nepalese police spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle, who said he understood “the pain” of the families.

The flood carried some bodies far away, making the task even more complicated, said Nirajan Thapa, head of the biology section at the National Forensic Science Laboratory.

“During an earthquake or an accident, the victims are found in a specific area. We therefore work within a relatively circumscribed area, the DNA of each body must only be compared to a limited number of samples,” explains Mr. Thapa.

“But the scale of the operation today is beyond measure.”

DNA alone cannot identify a body in the absence of a sample provided by a family member.

“We need to extract a DNA profile from their relatives before comparing it,” emphasizes Mr. Thapa.

It is therefore both the samples taken from the bodies and those of thousands of relatives which must be analyzed in order to establish matches.

Several countries, including India, China and South Korea, have sent teams to help the Nepalese authorities.

American and Singaporean fingerprint experts also came to lend a hand.

According to Mr. Thapa, this assistance should make it possible to begin establishing DNA matches within a few weeks.

In the meantime, families remain plunged into unbearable waiting. Some have already organized symbolic cremations for their deceased loved ones.

Rajesh Ram wonders if he will ever get answers. "I'm waiting to see if we can find any remains of my son."

© 2026 AFP

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