At least 22 people from Assam, who were in Nepal during the devastating earthquake on Saturday, are still missing even as a total of 92 people from the State have either reached New Delhi or Guwahati.
Assam Home Commissioner lS Changson said this on Tuesday while adding that 13 others from Assam have been traced and found safe in Kathmandu.
"Seven others who were injured are undergoing treatment in different hospitals in Kathmandu while search is on for about 22 others," she said.
The Assam Government is yet to ascertain as to how many persons were in Nepal during the tremor and the Government's estimate about the people in Nepal during the crisis is increasing every day.
On Monday, the Government had said that there were about 120 people from Assam who were in Nepal. The number, however, increased to 141 on Tuesday. The Government is collecting the information based on the queries made by people through the helpline numbers opened by it.
Changson further said that the seven bodies, which were supposed to arrive in Assam from Nepal, are getting delayed due to problems in flight movement. "There is a delay in bringing the bodies of people from Assam because the Kathmandu airport is incapable of catering to the rush and emergency situation. Aircraft have to wait for one to two hours in the air for landing space. The bodies could not be brought back last night but, we are expecting the bodies to reach Delhi tonight," Changsan said.
While six of the bodies have already been identified, one is yet to be identified by family members. "We have collected the DNA samples of the relatives of the deceased so that we can match those and confirm his identity," she said.
"We hope it will clear the doubts regarding the identity of the seventh person," Changsan said, adding that the seven people, who were part of a pilgrimage to Nepal, hailed from Guwahati.
The Home Commissioner further informed that a police team led by Inspector General of Police SN Singh will leave for Kathmandu on Tuesday night and will try to bring back the stranded people from Assam by road. The team includes some other SP rank officers and paramedics.
"They will try to bring the people of Assam who are stranded. However, if the bodies do not reach Delhi tonight, the team will try to bring the bodies by road," she said.