Sobbing relatives of victims from Nepal’s most severe earthquake in the past eight years sat beside the bodies of their loved ones on Sunday as rescuers continued searching for those who could still be trapped within the rubble of collapsed structures.
Adorned in white cloth, about 10 bodies were placed within a tarpaulin tent, where relatives prepared garlands of marigolds for the Hindu cremation rituals scheduled later in the day.
Thirty-two-year-old Baljit Mahar, seated cross-legged next to the body of his seven-year-old son, revealed that the child was among the 157 individuals who lost their lives in the earthquake that struck on Friday night in the remote village of Chiuri, located in the hilly Jajarkot district. The quake also left approximately 250 people injured.
Mahar lamented, “We couldn’t save him, whereas the other six members of our family managed to escape as soon as the earthquake shook us from our sleep.” He retrieved his son’s body from the collapsed façade of their single-storey mud and stone house.
According to Nepal’s National Seismological Centre, the earthquake measured 6.4 in magnitude, while the U.S. Geological Survey recorded it as 5.6. This earthquake constitutes the deadliest event in Nepal since 2015 when two quakes claimed the lives of around 9,000 individuals, reducing entire towns and centuries-old temples to rubble and causing over a million houses to be destroyed. The reconstruction cost amounted to $6 billion, which severely impacted Nepal’s $40 billion economy.
Following the Friday earthquake, thousands of buildings in Jajarkot and the neighboring Rukum West district have collapsed or developed cracks, rendering them uninhabitable.
Mahar expressed his distress, stating, “All of my belongings and clothes are buried under the debris. I have been left with nothing.”
Kuber Kadayat, spokesperson for Nepal Police, assured that authorities will persist in the search for survivors and rapidly initiate relief and rehabilitation efforts for affected families. The injured will receive free treatment from the government.
Survivors reported hearing the loud sounds of collapsing buildings immediately after the earthquake. Shanta Bahadur B.K., who was overseeing the bodies of six family members, reminisced, “There was a massive dust cloud, and we couldn’t breathe properly or see anything.” His mother was receiving medical treatment for her injuries at a hospital in the nearby city of Nepalgunj.
The 41-year-old farmer, who cultivates millet and corn, mournfully shared, “I am devastated by the loss of almost all my family members. It is an unbearable pain, but I must face it. What can I do?”
B.K. stated that the area’s single cremation ground will be used for the funeral rites, but separate cremation ceremonies will be held in accordance with their tradition and culture.
Reported by Navesh Chitrakar and Yubaraj Sharma in Chiuri; Additional reporting and writing by Gopal Sharma; Editing by William Mallard
