Last-minute flood warning saves more than 900 Nepal students, headmaster says
Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.
At a glance
Newswire
Named sources
Outcome reported
- A warning from an accountant helped evacuate more than 900 students and 16 staff members from a school in Bidur, Nepal, before a flash flood arrived.
- The school had about 14 minutes to move students to safety, but the building was later destroyed and swept into the riverbed.
- The flood disaster killed more than 900 people, with thousands missing, while some residents connected to the school remained unaccounted for.
An accountant shouting that “the flood is coming” gave a school in Nepal roughly 14 minutes to evacuate more than 900 students and 16 staff members.
The flood is coming, the flood is coming!
The warning reached Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School in Bidur after the accountant received a call from a relative in Rasuwa, the district hit first by the floods and mudslides. Headmaster Rajendra Dawadi ordered classes to stop and the school bell to ring as teachers began receiving frightened calls from relatives and friends.
About 900 of the school’s roughly 1,600 students were on campus. Dawadi told buses carrying more students to turn towards safer ground, while parents, teachers and students used motorbikes, buses or nearby higher ground to escape. At least one student fainted during the evacuation.
We immediately said: Stop the class, ring the bell.
The last bus crossed a nearby bridge about 14 minutes after the warning. Dawadi said the old bridge collapsed as the bus crossed the new one. The school, rebuilt after Nepal’s 2015 earthquake, no longer exists. Its former site now lies in the riverbed, and Dawadi wants authorities to rebuild it in a safer location.
As our bus crossed the new bridge, the old bridge collapsed.
Parents credited Dawadi with saving their children. Man Maya Tamang, who initially feared her daughter was lost, said, “He was like a God. He gave life to my daughter and to many other children. Only God can do this.” The disaster nevertheless claimed many lives. At least one school staff member and the accountant’s mother were missing, Dawadi said. The accountant had managed to move his father uphill but returned to find his mother’s house washed away.
He was like a God. He gave life to my daughter and to many other children. Only God can do this.
About this summary
Originally published by Daily Star in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.
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