On motorbikes, four friends search for their missing mate in Nepal

Friends desperately search for missing mate in Nepal A seven-hour drive through winding mountain passages was the latest stretch of a six-day search for answers for these four friends. On two motorbikes, they have made their way to a city on the Narayani River. Its waters usually bring life to the Chitwan Valley in Nepal, but for the past week, it has brought death. Warning: This story contains images that some readers may find distressing. Bodies have been carried downstream from the catastrophic flooding on the border with Tibet. Dozens of Nepali Army personnel have arrived to retrieve the dead, along with people from across Nepal who are desperate for answers. Among them are Sunil BK, Sudip Mangrati, Indra Bahadur Pul, and Shivhari, who are searching for their friend, Rajesh Khatri, one of almost 4,000 people still missing a week after the disaster. "On the first day we thought, maybe he might call us. We just waited," Sunil said. "But after 24 hours we were very scared, so on the second day we started to search." The group has clocked up hundreds of kilometres across Nepal. They went in and out of the flood zone, to hospitals, army barracks and police stations before arriving in Chitwan. "The journey was very hard, the roads are not good, and we are just hoping to find more information," Sunil said. Missing man is a father of two On the day the disaster struck, 42-year-old Rajesh Khatri was leading a tour group. He was on Betrawati Bridge when a colleague called to say the flood was coming. "And he said, 'Yeah, I'm just on the safe side, the police have also stopped us, we are just waiting here,' he just said like that," Sunil says. But when the colleague tried to call back, there was no answer and Rajesh has not been heard from since. The bridge was destroyed by the flood. Loading...Rajesh's friends believe he can be seen in a social media video showing people standing on part of the bridge as it surges away. "This one, this one, this one," Sunil says, pointing at a figure in the video on his screen. He says the friends are "90 per cent" sure it is Rajesh, based on how the person walks and holds himself. "We just showed to the family members also, and they were also convinced," Sunil says. The friends have also found a photo of Rajesh's car covered in mud and debris. The windows are smashed, but the number plate is clearly visible. Trying to get any more information is incredibly difficult. Rajesh has two children — a 13-year-old daughter and a seven-year-old son. His family is too distraught to search for information themselves. "We are standing together, for them," Sudip says. The friends have not given up hope of finding him alive, but it is hard to avoid thinking about the alternative here in Chitwan, more than 100 kilometres from the disaster zone. 'No rest and relief': Army vows to continue search At least 321 of the 1,050 bodies that have been recovered in Nepal have been found in Chitwan. At sunrise on the banks of the Narayani River, Nepali Army personnel load rubber boats into the water for a retrieval mission. Loading...They return to the bank with 10 bodies. The soldiers have been paddling along the river and pulling out bodies and remains for days and there is much work ahead. "There is no rest and relief, we will continue our efforts," Major Bhimsen Devkota says. "You are trying to say [to] me that I'm tired, but I'm not. We will continue the search." The remains they recover are being taken to Bharatpur Hospital, which was receiving 90 and 100 bodies a day in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. "It was very difficult, to be quite honest," forensic expert Kashyap Shrestha says. "Difficult not just in the sense for us to work — it was kind of overwhelming, as well, seeing such a huge number of dead bodies." Dr Shrestha and his team have conducted 290 post-mortems. "We do have limited resources but, in that context, we are doing the most we can with the limited resources that we have got," he says. Tarps have been strung up outside the mortuary area to extend its size and a temporary storage facility has been set up, but it is not enough. With the bodies decomposing and space running out, mass burials have commenced. "We are collecting DNA samples," Dr Shrestha says. Initially staff were also taking fingerprints and photographs, but that is no longer possible due to the extent of the decomposition. "Whatever identification markers that we can find externally, we are documenting that," Dr Shrestha says. Missing persons hub established A short drive from the hospital, a hub has been set up for people searching for missing loved ones. A Red Cross team is sitting at a table under a tent outside. They have a thick binder to collect details about missing people. Sunil BK approached the staff to tell them about Rajesh and fill out a form. Behind the Red Cross tent is a building in which seats are arranged around a screen showing pictures of bodies that have been recovered. People sit stony-faced, looking at the harrowing photos. There are 160 images on rotation. Others are not being shown, because the bodies are too decomposed to be recognisable. Volunteer Prabin Kafle has the job of "filtering" the images. "It is distressing, but then I think about what the families are going through," he says. So far, Prabin says, 12 bodies had been recognised in the room and undergone further identification. But the four friends did not see Rajesh in any of the images. "We just watched so many photographs there," Sunil says. "They are so much injured, their face, their body. "So it's very difficult for us also to just find our friend." During the group's visit a large sign is strung up outside. It outlines a process for relatives to give DNA samples for matching. The Nepali government has requested international assistance for the testing. It is likely to be a long time before there are results. The four friends pull on their helmets and get back on their bikes, ready to return to Kathmandu to report to Rajesh's family. Sudip Mangrati can't help but worry for his friend's wife and how she will raise the two children. "If she needs anything, I will be there for her," he said. But the friends refuse to lose hope. "We are very upset then. Also we are not giving up," Sunil says. "So we will surely visit more places to find more information about our friend." - Share options - Copy link - X (formerly Twitter)