Devighat Floods: Nepal Residents Return to House Ruins, Bodies Rising

Nepal’s flood crisis deepens as death toll climbs and morgues overflow

KATHMANDU, Nepal — The Trishuli River’s relentless surge through Himalayan valleys has left hundreds dead, morgues stretched beyond capacity, and survivors returning to vanished homes in Devighat. With at least 797 fatalities reported across Nepal and neighboring Tibet as of Sunday, authorities are scrambling to manage the grim aftermath of the worst flooding in decades.

Mass burials have begun in Bharatpur district as morgues across Nepal fill beyond their limits. Many victims, pulled from thick mud and debris miles from where they lived, are too mangled for immediate identification. Police have collected DNA samples from each body, assigning identification tags and numbers before placing them in temporary graves. The hope is that relatives will eventually claim them through DNA matching.

In Chitwan, 160 kilometers downstream from the hardest-hit areas, more than 250 bodies have washed ashore. Only nine have been identified. Officials have turned to an unconventional method to aid identification: relatives are asked to review photo slideshows and Nepal Police website uploads, searching for personal items like wedding rings, tattoos, or scars. Outside Kathmandu’s main morgue, photographs of the deceased are displayed publicly in hopes someone will recognize a loved one.

The crisis shows no signs of easing. Over 3,000 people remain missing, and officials fear the death toll could rise further. Inaccessible villages wiped off the map by walls of mud, water, and debris are still being reached only by army helicopters. Nepal’s foreign secretary, Amrit Bahadur Rai, told reporters Sunday that the government has requested more than 1,000 freezer units to store bodies safely until they can be identified.

In Devighat, a riverside settlement sacred to many, the destruction is total. Homes were stripped down to concrete skeletons and twisted metal. Search teams continue to pull bodies from the mud—sometimes only feet are visible. “We’ve retrieved 10 bodies so far, maybe more,” said Amabadutta Bhatta, a police superintendent leading search efforts. “When we finally clear this mud—it could take months—we don’t know what we’ll find.”

Survivors like Usha Nepali, 49, are left staring at the ruins of what was once a life. She raised four children and three grandchildren in the house now gone. “I invested everything here,” she said, tears streaming. “Now I don’t know where to go or what to do. The river has taken everything.”

Jamuna Magar, 36, whose family has lived in Devighat for generations, echoed the despair. She barely had time to grab her gold before fleeing. Clutching a plastic vat of cooking oil—the only possession she saved—she said she cannot imagine returning. “We’d seen floods before, but never one like this,” she said. “Everything on the ground floor is gone. Even the refrigerator washed away. I’m too afraid for my children. Decades may pass before Devighat can be rebuilt.”

As waters rose dangerously again Sunday, authorities urged residents to move to higher ground immediately. Many in Devighat began packing what little they could salvage—knowing they may never return.

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