The identity of four people whose bodies were found in the Timure area of Rasuwa has been established with the help of mobile phones recovered from their pockets.
A total of 1,385 bodies of people who lost their lives in the Bhotekoshi flood have been recovered, according to the latest details. The flood entered the Bhotekoshi River on August 26 through the Lhende River from the Tibet side of China and caused the heaviest physical and human losses in the Rasuwagadhi and Timure areas of Gosainkunda Rural Municipality in Rasuwa.
So far, the identities of only 103 of the recovered bodies have been established. While authorities have faced difficulties identifying the victims of the disaster, mobile phones found with four bodies recovered in the Timure area helped authorities establish their identities.
According to Rasuwa Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Ashok Thapa, mobile phones were found in the pockets of all four victims while preparing the documentation of the bodies. Police removed the SIM cards from the phones and contacted the victims’ families, leading to their identification.
“Finding mobile phones in the pockets along with the bodies made identification easier,” Thapa told Ratopati.
Those identified through their mobile phones were 40-year-old Thakur Adhikari of Belkotgadhi Municipality-5, Nuwakot; 40-year-old Ram Bahadur Bhujel of the same locality; 32-year-old Bimal Tripathi of Benighat Rorang Rural Municipality-5, Dhading; and Furpu Dhinduk Tamang of Gosainkunda Rural Municipality, Rasuwa.
An official involved in the investigation said the authorities were able to contact the victims’ relatives directly after activating the SIM cards recovered from the bodies.
“Once the SIM cards of the deceased were activated, we were able to contact their relatives directly,” the official said.
DSP Thapa said the victims’ families were contacted on the basis of information obtained from the mobile phones, and the bodies were handed over to their relatives on September 7.
A total of 178 bodies have so far been recovered in Rasuwa. Of these, only 11 have been identified so far.
Bodies Identified in Rasuwa
Furpu Dhinduk Tamang — Gosainkunda Rural Municipality-2, Rasuwa
Thakur Adhikari, 40 — Belkotgadhi Municipality-5, Nuwakot
Bimal Tripathi, 32 — Benighat Rorang Rural Municipality-5, Dhading
Ram Bahadur Bhujel, 40 — Belkotgadhi Municipality-5, Nuwakot
Gangadevi Shrestha — Uttargaya Rural Municipality-5, Rasuwa
Puduli Tamang — Uttargaya Rural Municipality-5, Khalte, Rasuwa
Janak Acharya — Uttargaya Rural Municipality-5, Banuwa, Rasuwa
Bibirām Tamang, 34 — Kalika Rural Municipality-1, Rasuwa
Kushal Khapangi Magar, 28 — Gaushala Municipality-1, Mahottari
Ashabir Tamang — Uttargaya Rural Municipality-5, Khalte, Rasuwa
Ashish Baniya — Uttargaya Rural Municipality-5, Betrawati, Rasuwa
