KATHMANDU, June 1: The families of the earthquake dead gathered at the premises of Nepal Police Forensic Laboratory on Sunday. Most of them were awaiting their turn to receive the bodies of dead relatives for funeral rites while some were queuing up for the grim task of identifying family members among the dead.
At around 2:00 pm, a team from the Nepal Police at the Laboratory was handling a body along with the belongings that included clothing, shoes and ornaments.
Pasang Yangji Tamang went closer to the body. "Yes, this is the one," she said, identifying her dead husband Dawa Tamang.Pasang Yangji, along with other members of her family, had been trying to find Dawa ever since the catastrophic earthquake of April 25. Dawa, 54, a tourist guide by occupation, was killed in Langtang by the avalanche triggered by the earthquake. He had gone there a week before the quake.
"My husband had gone to earn for the family and all we got back was his body which needed to be identified," she said, adding, "I am glad I got to see his body even though it was hardly recognizable. We can now perform the funeral rites."
She added that till that day nothing had ever happened to him throughout his life as a tourist guide. "But this time he was not able to survive."
Dawa Tamang's body was brought to Kathmandu from Langtang on 19 May and kept at the Nepal Police forensics lab. The police were able to identify the body after the family, which resides at Kapan, Kathmandu came into contact with them.
Sub-Inspector Ram Singh Dhami informed that they were able to identify the body with the help of clothing items and other belongings.
Seventeen other unidentified bodies remain at the morgue of the Nepal Police Forensics Laboratory inside the premises of Tribhuwan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH). The police have identified the bodies of 348 earthquake dead, through TUTH.