Four unidentified bodies recovered from the Narayani-Gandak river in Uttar Pradesh’s Maharajganj district have been handed over to the Nepal administration after post-mortem examinations, officials said on Monday. The move comes as authorities on both sides of the border deal with the fallout of severe flooding in Nepal.
Officials said the bodies, of three women and a man, had been kept at the Maharajganj district hospital mortuary as their identities could not be established. DNA samples were collected during the post-mortem examination to help with identification, and the data will also be shared with the Nepal administration according to procedure so it can be matched with samples from families searching for missing persons.
Nichlaul Tehsildar Amit Singh, who led the operation, said, “the bodies were transported in two ambulances and handed over to the Nawalparasi administration at the Maheshpur border near Thuthibari late Sunday night.”
Additional District Magistrate Prashant Kumar said, “all necessary legal and administrative formalities were completed before the bodies were handed over to Nepal Police.”
The recovery of the bodies came amid the flood situation in Nepal, with authorities in Maharajganj maintaining surveillance along the river as strong currents carried bodies downstream into Indian territory.
Maharajganj shares a border with Nepal, and the district administration had earlier sounded a high alert after flash floods in the neighbouring country. River levels and other water bodies receiving water from Nepal have been under continuous monitoring, officials said.
On August 27, three bodies, including those of two women, were recovered from the Gandak river in Maharajganj after they were apparently swept downstream from flood-hit Nepal. An SSB rescue team monitoring the river spotted the bodies and retrieved them using a motorboat.
On August 28, officials said four bodies had been recovered from the river and were being kept at the district hospital mortuary, while authorities remained in touch with Nepal to ascertain their identities and check whether they were among those reported missing after the floods and landslides.
Authorities said the handover has now been completed after post-mortem examinations and the collection of DNA samples. The development comes as Nepal’s flash flood toll rose to 903 on Monday, with bodies still being recovered and 4,247 people still missing.
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Published By:
India Today Web Desk
Published On:
Aug 31, 2026 15:26 IST
