BANKE: Sixteen persons in the district have given samples for DNA matching in a bid to identify the dead bodies recovered after the Bhotekoshi flash flood.

The relatives of those missing since the flood gave the blood samples so that it would help identify the dead bodies which are in unrecognizable state and managed in various places across the country.

Many people from the district have gone missing since the flood that wiped out infrastructures, houses and settlements on the Bhotekoshi-Trishuli corridor on August 26.

DNA samples were collected from 16 persons in the district, confirmed Deputy Superintendent of Police, Pratit Singh Rathaur.

For the DNA matching with the retrieved bodies, blood sample is collected from biological father, mother and a son or daughter of the missing ones. With this, the sample is sent Nepal Police’s Central Forensics Laboratory.

Anlal Rokaya, a resident of Nepalgunj-20, said he was hopeful to identify the dead bodies of his brother, sister-in-law and his son after sending the sample for DNA matching. Rokaya lost his 19-year-old son Dipak, 53-year-old brother Sher Singh and sister-in-law Bishnumati, 56. They had gone missing at once in the Bhoteskoshi flood.

Banke district has recorded as many as 23 persons missing in the flood. So far, three persons hailing from the district who were found dead have been identified, while 32 others were rescued alive, according to chief district officer Dil Kumar Tamang.

The district has chipped in Rs 2.4 million as monetary aid in the Prime Minister Disaster Relief Fund. Various social organizations, schools, commercial firms and individuals voluntarily provided the amount as the humanitarian aid to those in urgency in the wake of catastrophic floods.