Nepal Floods Overwhelm Morgues, Prompting Temporary Body Storage

Nepal is grappling with a severe logistical crisis as morgues across multiple districts overflow with bodies recovered from devastating flash floods, forcing authorities to establish temporary storage facilities and implement new identification systems. The floods, triggered by a glacial collapse near the Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday, August 26, have killed at least 547 people, with hundreds more still missing. Bodies swept downstream from the hardest-hit districts of Rasuwa and Nuwakot have been recovered as far away as Chitwan, Tanahun, Gorkha, and Nawalparasi, overwhelming local capacity. In Chitwan, where 137 bodies were recovered along the Trishuli and Narayani rivers by Thursday morning, authorities are converting an unused government building in Bharatpur into a temporary body-storage center expected to hold around 250 remains. If that facility also reaches capacity, officials plan to use the electric crematorium at Devghat, which will be equipped with air conditioners and dry ice to slow decomposition. The crisis has similarly strained facilities in Pokhara, where 93 bodies have been transported from Tanahun, Gorkha, Nawalparasi East, and Dhading.