Body number 1003 at a state-run hospital in Nepal’s Pokhara was claimed by three families, each believing they had found a missing relative after the devastating floods.
The families of Gopal Dahit, a hydropower worker from Bardiya, and Damodar Basyal, a tourist guide from Rupandehi, were among its latest claimants. Another family had initially claimed it on Sunday. Dahit and Basyal were still disputing the identity of the body, Nepal News reported on Monday. The third family seemed to have stepped back.
The case reflects the difficulties facing families and authorities as bodies recovered far downstream are brought to hospitals, where photographs, physical features and personal belongings are often being used to establish identities.
The August 26 flood left hundreds dead. Body number 1003 lying in the Pokhara Academy of Health Sciences is one of them. It now has to undergo DNA testing.
-PTI
