By Raman Paudel
Kathmandu, Aug. 30: On Saturday afternoon, a rescue team transported an injured person from Rasuwa to TU Teaching Hospital. Sitamaya Tamang, 30, from Sindhupalchowk, rushed to the hospital’s emergency department.
Sitamaya, who has been searching for her brother Subash Tamang, missing in the Rasuwa flash flood on Wednesday, for the last three days, still hopes for life.
The confusion and uncertainty in Sitamaya’s eyes were clear. Holding her 76-year-old father’s hand, she glances at the list of missing people on the Hospital’s wall.
She runs towards the hospital emergency room whenever she sees a new patient being brought in.
According to Sitamaya, her brother Subash was driving a container toward the China border to carry readymade clothes for Dashain market. However, the devastating flood swept him out.
“My brother called me the night before the flood in Rasuwa. We had a long conversation. He was preparing to go to the Chinese border when he woke up in the morning. Suddenly, around 10 AM, news of the flood came in. After that, I tried calling my brother, but I couldn’t connect. I still can’t reach his phone. Rescue workers are helping the injured, and I keep hoping that the army team will bring my brother to the hospital. I have been at the hospital for three days now, but there has been no news about my brother,” Sitamaya said, her heart heavy with anxiety.
Like Sitamaya, there are hundreds of people at TU Teaching Hospital searching for their family members and relatives missing in the Rasuwa flood.
Family members and relatives of those who went missing in the floods were still roaming around the hospital late into the third day of the flood on Saturday.
According to the latest data released by the Ministry of Health and Food Safety, security personnel have rescued 1,436 people from the flood-hit areas as of Saturday.
Of the 242 injured, 75 are undergoing treatment. Of these, 135 have been discharged. The Ministry of Health and Food Security has reported that three people have died. Of the injured, 27 are being treated at TU Teaching Hospital, and 15 are being treated at the National Trauma Centre.
According to Om Bahadur Rana, DIG of Nepal Police, thousands of people visit the Teaching Hospital in search of family members and relatives.
While the search for the missing is ongoing in six different districts, including the flood-affected Rasuwa and Nuwakot, relatives of the missing are roaming around the flood-affected districts.
They are also visiting various hospitals in Kathmandu. However, instead of going to hospitals to search for the missing, it would be easier to search for relatives based on the information updated by the government, says DIG Rana.
“Thousands of people visit the hospital, and I understand their concerns. However, it is important for them to follow the notices updated by the Nepal Police. If someone has come to the Teaching Hospital in search of a relative, their relative may be actually receiving treatment at Bir Hospital. If they had properly read the government’s notice, they would not have needed to come here,” said DIG Rana.
Rana also informed that there are several unidentified bodies at Teaching Hospital. At least 50 unidentified bodies were brought to the Teaching Hospital.
According to government officials, unidentified bodies collected from various locations remain at the teaching hospital, which has been calling their family members for identification.
Unidentified bodies are kept in holding centres for some days. However, if relatives do not come forward or if identification cannot be ascertained, the bodies will be managed after undergoing DNA testing, police stated.
TRN Online
