This aerial photograph shows the Neelkantha Hindu temple covered heavily under sludge in the aftermath of flash floods at Devighat in Nepal's Nuwakot district on August 29, 2026. (Photo by Manan VATSYAYANA / AFP)
Kathmandu, Nepal: Nepal's reconstruction bill after devastating floods could run into "billions of dollars", Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said Saturday, as authorities grapple with the scale of the destruction.
"The reconstruction and rehabilitation would entail perhaps billions of dollars," he told reporters in Kathmandu.
"We will do loss and damage research and then we plan, but I am reaching out to our international community for support".
Three days after the disaster, Khanal said "the urgency is on rescue and saving lives as much as we can", but the scale of the disaster was already stretching the government's capacity.
Rescue teams have retrieved 626 bodies, and more than 2,426 people are still missing in Nepal.
Khanal appealed for specialised help to identify and preserve the bodies recovered.
"We have reached out to our friends who can provide specific requirements, not only in the rescue," he said.
"Hundreds of bodies have been found downstream, and there is a risk of fast decomposition because these bodies have been in water for a long time," he added.
"Our own healthcare capacity is very limited, to put these bodies in a frozen state for a long time," Khanal said.
"So we've been asking to provide fridges until... we can locate the loved ones of these people who passed away in this disaster."
The government was also considering bringing in "freezer trucks, like those where you can put perishable goods", he added.
Identifying the bodies was another huge challenge.
"We need forensic capability," he said. "DNA sampling, DNA testing and reporting -- we have very limited forensic capability in Nepal."
