Chitwan, Aug 29: The bodies of the people who died in the Bhotekoshi flood in Rasuwa and retrieved in Chitwan are to be buried after collecting their DNA sample for later identification.
The District Security Committee meeting held at the District Administration Office today decided to bury them to prevent the spread of infection as the bodies were decomposing with not much space available for freezing them.
Of the 233 bodies collected from the banks of the Narayani and Trishuli rivers in the district, only four have been identified so far with 229 bodies lying in holding centers and various health institutions, shared Chief District Officer Ganesh Aryal. The bodies have started to decompose, with some reaching a state where they cannot be identified.
As a result, the District Security Committee decided to bury the bodies in accordance with the opinion of health experts who said that the bodies kept without proper refrigeration posed a risk of spreading health infections and epidemic, said Chief District Officer Aryal.
The district administration has stated that unidentified and unclaimed bodies will be buried in a respectful, safe and legal manner in accordance with the ‘Management of Unidentified and Abandoned Bodies (First Amendment) Directive, 2083’.
As per the decision, DNA samples of all the bodies will be collected and recorded, identified by a code number. The bodies will be buried at Devghat in Bharatpur Metropolitan City-1 starting today.
The District Administration Office has apologized for the inconvenience caused to the victim’s family due to the extraordinary circumstances.
