Nepal Expected to Declare 5,000 People Missing in Floods Dead, Paving the Way for Family Compensation

Waiting Period for Legal Death Declaration Cut from 12 Years to 45 Days

The Nepalese government has reduced the period required to legally declare people missing in the massive floods dead from 12 years to 45 days. With a month and a half having passed since the flooding, more than 5,000 people who remain missing can now be legally declared dead.

According to Agence France-Presse on October 10, Nepalese President Ram Chandra Poudel issued an ordinance on October 9 amending disaster-related laws. The Nepalese government had previously submitted the proposed ordinance to the president, seeking to reduce the waiting period for the legal recognition of disaster-related missing persons as dead from 12 years to 45 days.

Buildings have been washed away or buried under debris in a village in the flood-stricken area of Bidur, Bagmati, Nepal, on the 6th of last month (当地 time). Yonhap News Agency

As of October 10, those who went missing in the massive floods on August 26 had been missing for 45 days. The number of missing people currently stands at 5,285, while at least 1,455 people have been confirmed dead. Of these, only 112 bodies have been identified and handed over to their families.

Under the previous law, a person had to remain missing for 12 years before being legally declared dead. As a result, families of missing people were unable to obtain death certificates and faced difficulties receiving government compensation and completing inheritance or property-title transfer procedures.

The Nepalese government provides families of flood victims with approximately 200,000 Nepalese rupees (KRW 1.74 million) for the first family member who died, and 100,000 Nepalese rupees (KRW 868,000) for each additional death. It also provides up to 25,000 Nepalese rupees (KRW 217,000) separately for funeral expenses. However, families of missing people could not receive this assistance because they were unable to submit death certificates.

On October 5, the Nepalese government announced that it had concluded search-and-rescue operations and would move on to recovery and reconstruction. Accordingly, company-led search operations for nine South Koreans who went missing at the construction site of the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project in Rasuwa District, Bagmati Province—including three employees of Korea South-East Power and six employees of Doosan Enerbility—are expected to conclude this weekend.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.