Nepal has begun burying the victims of the devastating flood that hit the mountainous country last week in mass graves after taking DNA samples.

Nepal has begun burying victims of last week’s devastating flood in mass graves after taking DNA samples.

Nepalese authorities said on Tuesday that 1,003 bodies had been recovered, with 3,916 people still listed as missing, following the massive surge of freezing water, rocks and debris that tore down Himalayan valleys on August 26.

The deadly wave was triggered by a high-altitude glacial collapse, and then carved a path of destruction through the country.

At a mass burial ground in Chitwan district, the Hindu rituals of death, cremation, prayer and final farewell have been overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster, as authorities bury unidentified bodies after DNA sampling because there are too many to store or identify individually.

Police using a drone to search for survivors said on Tuesday they had found 24 bodies in a single house in Nuwakot district. At least 17 bodies have been recovered from rivers far downstream in India.

Prime Minister Balendra Shah has described the catastrophe as “unimaginable and heartbreaking”.