Nepal ends search for thousands of flood victims as family reactions
range from anger to relief
[October 07, 2026]
By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal announced its intention to cease search
and rescue operations for victims of the Aug. 26 flood that killed at
least 1,455 people with thousands more still missing.
Family members of 5,285 people who remain unaccounted for, including
hundreds of foreign nationals, expressed mixed reactions, with some
relieved and others unhappy with the decision by Nepal's government
announced late Monday.
The office of Prime Minister Balendra Shah said the government will
concentrate on rehabilitation and reconstruction including restoring
roads and bridges cut off by floods, particularly in remote areas where
damaged infrastructure has made aid deliveries difficult.
The government estimates reconstruction and recovery will cost $4.77
billion. Nearly 33,000 people have been affected and about 7,500 homes
were damaged or destroyed.
Hopes for finding survivors were revived after two Nepalese workers were
rescued from an underground tunnel at the Trishuli hydropower project on
Sept. 4, and again two days later when rescuers found a Chinese man at
the same location.
The families of other flood victims have held protests and vigils in
Nepal to call for the search efforts to be improved.
Usha Khatri opposed the government's decision to end rescue operations.
She has spent days searching for her husband in many of the towns where
the river flows and bodies have been recovered.
“I am so angry at the government for giving up on search and rescue with
thousands of people still missing. I just don’t understand how they can
do that when we still have hope left that our loved one can still be
found,” Khatri said Wednesday.
During her ongoing search she has checked photos of bodies that were
recovered but buried for preservation until identification is made.
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“Either they have to give up the body or show some solid proof that my
husband is gone and then only they can declare him dead,” Khatri said.
Other family members welcomed the decision and said they are seeking
government-issued death certificates.
“After so many days and weeks there is little or no hope of finding
anyone alive. We are sure that none of our family members survived and
we are just looking for a closure,” said Nirajan Poudel, who lost five
family members in the flood.
Several people whose relatives remain missing have performed symbolic
funerals. Cremation is an important final rite in the Hindu tradition
and performing the ceremony even without a body provides a sense of
spiritual release for some families.
Poudel said the government has so far refused to issue death
certificates, saying laws need to be amended first. Death certificates
are necessary in Nepal for families to receive compensation, insurance
and inherit properties.
Nepal's government did not immediately respond to a request by The
Associated Press for more information about the death certificates.
Legal experts said the key issue was determining the number of people
who were swept away by the flood.
“There is more to do with practical complications than legal
provisions,” supreme court lawyer Hardik Subedi said. “The process has
not been initiated that facilitates the death certificate.”
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