“Reconstruction and rehabilitation may require billions of dollars,” he told journalists in Kathmandu.
Read more «Žalgiris» trainee officially joined Milan’s «Inter»: «I dream of making it to the main team»
“We will conduct a loss and damage assessment, and then plan, but I appeal to the international community for support,” the minister said.
Three days after the disaster, S. Khanal said that “urgent rescue operations are needed to save as many lives as possible.”
However, the scale of the disaster already exceeds the government’s capabilities.
Rescuers have found 626 bodies, and more than 2,400 people in Nepal are still considered missing.
S. Khanal requested specialized assistance in identifying and preserving the recovered remains.
“We have reached out to our friends who can provide specific assistance, not only in conducting rescue operations,” he said.
“Hundreds of bodies have been found downstream, there is a risk of rapid decomposition because they have been in the water for a long time,” the minister added.
According to S. Khanal, “our own health system’s capacity to freeze these bodies for a long time is very limited.”
“Therefore, we ask to provide refrigerators until (…) we can find the relatives of those who died in this disaster,” he said.
The government is also considering bringing in “refrigerated trucks, such as those used to store perishable goods,” S. Khanal said.
Body identification is another huge challenge.
“We need forensic expertise,” he said.
“DNA sampling, DNA testing, and reporting – we have very limited forensic capacity in Nepal,” the minister said.
