Federal government collecting DNA from families of 29 missing Canadians in Nepal
After a glacier collapse and flash flood killed over 1,100 people on Aug. 26, Global Affairs Canada is working with RCMP and local police to identify Canadian victims.
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The federal government is collecting DNA samples from families of 29 Canadians still missing after a glacier collapse and flash flood devastated the Nepal-China border on August 26. The disaster killed more than 1,100 people and left roughly 4,400 missing across the region.
One Canadian has been found safe. The RCMP is assisting with DNA collection alongside police forces in Nepal and China, who have buried dozens of unidentified bodies in trenches in Kathmandu because too many remain to keep or identify individually.
The 29 missing Canadians are believed to have been in the region where the flooding occurred. Senior government officials say the situation is changing by the day as the federal government continues to work with local authorities and families of the missing. The timeline for identifications and when DNA collection from families began have not been disclosed.
By the numbers
How many Canadians went missing in the Nepal glacier collapse and flood?
29 Canadians remain missing after the glacier collapse and flash flood on August 26 that devastated the Nepal-China border region.
How many people died in the disaster overall?
The glacier collapse and flash flood killed over 1,100 people across the Nepal-China border region on August 26.
Who is helping to identify Canadian victims?
Global Affairs Canada is working with the RCMP and police forces in Nepal and China to identify Canadian victims through DNA collection from families of the missing.
