Relatives of six South African nationals have not received confirmation that their family members were identified among victims of flash floods in Nepal, leaving families dependent on forensic matches and diplomatic reports. The Department of International Relations and Cooperation said on Thursday that no confirmed identifications had been reported at the time of its statement.
DIRCO said Pretoria responded to a formal request from Nepali authorities by arranging for the South African Police Service to collect DNA samples from biological relatives. Those samples were processed through the Victim Identification Centre within the SAPS Division: Detectives and Forensic Services, and the resulting profiles were forwarded to Nepalese police and to Interpol’s office in Kathmandu for comparison.
The department also confirmed that South African missions in New Delhi and in Beijing are engaged, liaising with host authorities to coordinate consular support and to follow developments on the ground. DIRCO framed the combined effort as both technical and diplomatic, pairing forensic work with multilateral contact to establish whether any of the missing citizens are among the flood victims.
“Regrettably, there is still no confirmation from the authorities in Nepal or China/Tibet regarding any of the six South African nationals. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide updates to the families as more information becomes available,” DIRCO said in its statement. The department emphasised it will keep families informed as agencies verify or rule out matches.
What happens next depends on whether Nepalese or Chinese/Tibetan authorities return positive matches from the DNA comparisons already dispatched to Kathmandu, and on any further official reports from local investigators. Until those confirmations arrive, consular teams in the region will continue to track laboratory results and coordinate with Nepali and international agencies on identification and the following steps.
