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  • 17 minutes ago
Along Nepal's Trishuli River, rescue teams continue to search through dangerous debris as survivors return to devastated communities and look for missing loved ones.

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00:00My family has been destroyed. There is nothing left. And what will we eat? I have huge debts.
00:08Now, where will we live?
00:12Sitaram Shah has come back to see what's left of his house after the floods tore through Dungi Bazaar town
00:18in Nepal.
00:20He has lived here with his family for decades. Just a few concrete blocks remain standing.
00:27After hours of searching, Sitaram managed to recover a handful of belongings.
00:33This gas cylinder was left in my house and some clothes and utensils. I'm devastated. Whatever I earned, I lost
00:41it all.
00:48Shravan Kumar has come straight from the hospital where his family is being treated.
00:53His elderly father sent him to see what's left of their home.
00:57It's his first time here since the disaster.
01:01Even reaching where he once lived was a struggle.
01:07This is now debris. The river used to be here and it was a massive swamp.
01:13And anywhere, there could be a hole where a man could get trapped inside.
01:23Shravan's family has lived here for generations.
01:28Now the town which was once home to thousands of people is almost gone.
01:32Only memories remain.
01:35I came here to see if there were any belongings left, but it looks like nothing is.
01:40There is no point in coming back here.
01:43Whatever belongings we had have been swept away by the flood.
01:48As Shravan finishes searching, his father calls.
01:52Yes, dad. I'm not able to go inside. My room is completely flooded.
01:57As you could see here, there's debris all around.
02:00We've been talking to these locals.
02:02They've been telling us there are still bodies trapped inside this debris.
02:05They're telling us it's very difficult to take them out.
02:08They've been trying for the last couple of days, but they know it's a very difficult and daunting task for
02:12them.
02:15With every passing day, the scale of destruction becomes clearer.
02:20In parts of the town, you can still make out the remnants of people's lives.
02:26In others, everything is gone.
02:33Volunteers and rescue workers here are working day and night,
02:37searching for bodies, clearing debris and helping families.
02:43At this site alone, dozens of people are in action.
02:48We're very afraid that if another flood comes, it will wipe us out again.
02:52While rescuing people, we're getting bitten by insects and suffering injuries.
02:56This rescue is very dangerous.
03:02Despite the risk, the teams aren't giving out.
03:04Authorities say thousands of people have already been rescued from this town.
03:09Look at this mud line here.
03:11Almost everything beneath it has simply disappeared.
03:14People here tell us that some homes and small businesses were swept away into the river in less than 20
03:19seconds.
03:21Others that are still standing are buried in thick mud.
03:24What's more disturbing is that people here are lost not just their homes, but their livelihoods too.
03:30Many of them ran small businesses from the ground floors of their homes.
03:34And those businesses have been washed away along with their homes.
03:37We hear about the painful realities with which this community is living.
03:43A kilometre away from the site, Shogun and her brother keep returning to this spot.
03:48But say they haven't found the courage to go inside what's left of their house.
03:58My heart won't let me go in. We've lost everything. Our friends and relatives, who also lost everything, have left
04:05us behind.
04:06Since the flood, I've been struggling with the stress of it all.
04:14And while some families are combing through the ruins of their homes, others are still searching loved ones.
04:20In the capital Kathmandu, this hospital has become a gathering point for grieving families.
04:26Families put up photos and phone number of the missing, hoping someone will recognize them.
04:34This couple comes back every day, waiting for news of their relatives.
04:39I'm here for searching my father-in-law and mother-in-law.
04:43They have been lost since four days in the Tirsuli River flood.
04:46And I'm here for searching their dead bodies.
04:49I think it is impossible to find them alive so rarely.
04:52We have to find if any remaining dead body is there.
04:57Authorities say identifying the dead has become one of the hardest parts of this disaster.
05:03The bodies that are recovered are first cleaned.
05:06Doctors then conduct an examination and a post-mortem, after which they are tagged and kept inside.
05:13It is difficult to identify them because their faces are unrecognizable.
05:19The bodies brought here are completely disfigured.
05:23We have to rely on DNA testing.
05:27Only then can we identify them.
05:32Back in Dungi Bazaar's survival came down to chance.
05:36Many say they had almost no warning before the water hit.
05:40Now for those who survived the floods, the question is what comes next.
05:45Whether there is anything left to rebuild and whether they will ever again feel safe beside this river.
05:53The other one is a
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