Nepal families hold symbolic funerals as thousands remain missing
Key Takeaways
- At least 1,204 people have been killed and more than 4,200 remain missing in Nepal.
- Families without recovered bodies are performing final rites using sacred grass effigies.
- Search and recovery operations continue across areas devastated by the August 26 floods.
Mourners are using sacred grass effigies to perform final rites for relatives whose bodies have not been recovered after the catastrophic floods.
Families in Kathmandu are holding symbolic funerals for relatives still missing more than a week after catastrophic flash floods swept through Nepal's Himalayan border region.
At Pashupati Aryaghat, part of the Pashupatinath Temple complex, mourners prepared human-shaped effigies from bundles of sacred kusha grass and wrapped them in yellow cloth before performing ritual offerings beside funeral fires.
Some relatives also underwent traditional head-shaving rites as families sought to perform Hindu final rites despite having no bodies to cremate.
"It's just that this was such a massive tragedy – something nobody could have ever imagined. No one had even thought something like this could happen," Ramesh Kadka, a family member of one of the victims, said.
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At least 1,204 people have been killed across Nepal, while more than 4,200 remain missing. Search and recovery operations are continuing in devastated areas.
"Some people still haven't found the bodies of their loved ones. People are searching for the bodies," Kadka noted.
For families unable to recover their relatives, sacred kusha grass effigies are being used to represent the missing during the final rites.
Kadka described the difficulties facing families who have recovered only parts of their relatives' remains.
"Some people have found only a hand, some only a leg, and some don't even have the whole body. Even if they find just a hand, they bring it home and perform the final rites for their loved one. It's an incredibly painful and heartbreaking situation for the families," Kadka said.
Authorities have placed unidentified bodies in temporary graves. DNA samples, photographs and other information are being preserved in hopes that the remains can eventually be identified and returned to families.
The August 26 disaster was triggered by a high-altitude glacial collapse, sending water, mud and debris through river valleys near Nepal's border with Tibet.
Across the border in China's Xizang region, authorities have reported 21 deaths, while 541 people remain missing. Rescue crews are continuing operations, with a temporary access road built to reach areas cut off by the disaster.
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This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
