RCMP sends disaster victim identification specialists to Nepal for flood recovery

OTTAWA — Two RCMP disaster victim identification specialists are in Kathmandu to assist Canadian officials already in the region in response to flash floods along the Nepal-China border.

Canada is assisting international efforts to locate survivors after devastating floods on Aug. 26 killed more than 1,100 people and left roughly 4,400 missing in the region along the Nepal-China border.

Global Affairs Canada says the agency is aware of 29 Canadians and permanent residents in Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region who still have not been located.

Senior government officials told reporters in a background briefing on Sept. 3 that efforts to collect DNA samples from the families of missing Canadians were underway.

One Canadian has been found safe, and 29 more are still missing, and believed to have been in the region where the flash flood occurred.

In Kathmandu, police have buried dozens of unidentified bodies in trenches because there are too many to keep or identify individually.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2026.