Nepal families hold symbolic funerals for flood victims still missing
A week after devastating floods hit Nepal, families of those still unaccounted for have begun holding symbolic funeral ceremonies for their missing loved ones.
In Nepal, families whose relatives remain missing a week after devastating floods struck the country have started performing symbolic funeral rites. The step reflects a growing acceptance among many families that their missing loved ones may never be found alive, or that their remains may never be recovered.
The floods caused severe damage across affected areas, and the consequences are still being felt a week later. A number of people who went missing during the disaster have not yet been located, and rescue and recovery efforts reportedly continue in the affected regions.
Symbolic rites without a body
With the remains of many missing victims not found, grieving families are turning to symbolic funeral ceremonies that allow them to carry out traditional mourning obligations even without a physical body to bury or cremate. Such practices are used in Nepal and the wider region when a person is presumed dead but their remains cannot be recovered.
The funerals underscore the scale of the tragedy caused by the recent floods and the lasting hardship still facing communities in the disaster-hit areas.
