'Giant morgue': Nepal flood victims overwhelm downstream city

CHITWAN, Nepal - The odor became increasingly potent as the journalists walked further, causing discomfort and headaches. Local vendors selling protective masks had warned them that a single mask would not suffice. Upon arriving in Bharatpur, the sixth day of the severe floods, the entire city emitted a foul stench, functioning as a massive mortuary.

Located roughly 200 kilometers southwest of the disaster area near the Tibetan border, Bharatpur is a six-hour drive from Kathmandu, the capital. Due to the river's current slowing down in the plains, bodies swept downstream accumulate in this city. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority reported that 259 out of the 675 bodies recovered nationwide, as of Saturday, were found in Chitwan district.

The Bharatpur Hospital received bodies floating in the river or washed ashore. Inside the autopsy room, a grim situation unfolded with scattered bodies scattered across the floor. In the work area, employees donned full protective suits and sprayed water to clean a severed, severely swollen leg. Once the task was complete, they retrieved another body from the freeze.