Kathmandu, Sept. 1 -- On Monday, an unusual scene unfolded in the skies over Benighat, Dhading, one of the areas devastated by last week's floods.

An unmanned aircraft flew overhead carrying a human body.

The drone had been deployed to retrieve a body from an area that rescuers found difficult and dangerous to navigate. Seven bodies were eventually airlifted by drones from Benighat-3 to Benighat-5 under the supervision of security personnel.

It was an extraordinary use of a technology that, barely a decade ago, was largely associated with international search-and-rescue teams responding to disasters in Nepal.

When a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal in 2015, killing thousands and destroying large parts of Kathmandu Valley and othe...