In one Nepal district, flood catastrophe is measured in bodies and burial trenches

KATHMANDU, Nepal -- The devastating flash floods in the Himalayan region swept so many people downstream that authorities in one Nepalese district have begun burying bodies in temporary graves before they can be identified, prompting accusations that Hindu funeral traditions are being ignored.In south-central Nepal's Chitwan district, the scale of the catastrophe was evident in some 250 bodies awaiting identification and the hastily dug trenches for their temporary burial following Wednesday’s catastrophic floods and mudslides, which killed at least 800 people and left more than 3,000 missing in Nepal and Tibet.The bodies were carried hundreds of kilometers downstream by the Bhotekoshi River from the flood's epicenter before being recovered in Chitwan.Authorities carried out a temporary burial of about 100 victims on Saturday, officials said, as forensic teams struggled to cope. A convoy of vehicles carrying bodies entered a lush, forested area as an excavator dug a wide trench in the red earth while officials and media looked on.Anil Thapa, a police inspector coordinating the handling of the bodies, said another 50 bodies were having DNA samples taken ahead of their likely burial ...