Hundreds of photographs, some showing people reported missing and others showing recovered bodies yet to be identified, cover a hospital wall at Tribhuvan University teaching hospital in Kathmandu. The display has become a daily destination for relatives desperate for information after a glacier collapse triggered a devastating flood that has claimed more than 1,200 lives and left in excess of 4,200 people missing.
Sati Sigdel has been making regular trips to the wall, where she and others pin images and notes in the hope of locating family members. "We put up her photo three days ago, but we still havent heard anything," she said of her cousin, Sweety Paithan, whose whereabouts remain unknown.
Authorities and rescuers have persisted with systematic searches more than a week after the disaster, but hopes of finding survivors are fading. Officials say some 900 people are feared to be trapped inside hydroelectric power plants affected by the flood, compounding the challenge faced by rescue teams.
Late on Wednesday a small group of people from different parts of Nepal stood before the wall, scanning the photographs and asking nearby guards if anyone had come forward with information. Among them was Sapna Neupane, who said she was looking for news of her maternal uncles family of four, all of whom are missing. "Were hoping for a miracle," she said. "Its hard just to stand in front of this wall, looking at thousands of pictures."
The images are presented in a variety of formats. Some are placed inside carefully prepared posters that include written details and phone numbers for contact, while others are attached with brief handwritten notes beneath the photographs. One poster bears the word "Missing" above a photo of a couple; another shows a close-up of a muscular young man with a left-arm tattoo, apparently intended to aid identification.
Not all families maintain hope of finding loved ones alive. At the nearby Pashupatinath Temple on the banks of the Bagmati River, some relatives have cremated straw effigies after searches failed to locate missing kin. Tapindra Prasad Timalsina, whose relative Sabin is 21 years old and missing, stood as a Hindu priest chanted prayers and others poured water over an effigy before lighting the pyre - a ritual typically reserved for the dead. "It weighs heavily on my heart," Timalsina said.
Despite the grim circumstances and the gradual dimming of hopes for survivors, some relatives continue to hold out for information. Sigdel said she has kept a vigil at the wall since Monday and returns each day with friends and family, keeping alive the possibility of news about Sweety Paithan.
Context and ongoing actions
Search teams remain active across affected regions, including operations linked to hydroelectric facilities where large numbers of people are feared trapped. Identification efforts continue at hospitals and makeshift information centers where families attempt to match photographs with recovered remains.