Mother reunited with son, 8, who survived Nepal floods by climbing trees

Zoyal Ghale, an 8-year-old boy, was reunited with his mother on Friday, days after surviving Nepal's deadly floods by escaping into a forest and climbing trees. His mother, Matti Maya Tamang, had been desperately searching for him and his brother, fearing they had both perished in their school.

Earlier, the young Ghale had been airlifted alone from the devastated northern district of Rasuwa. He suffered a broken leg and cuts on his face. Meanwhile, his mother, Tamang, moved between shelters and collection points, her hope dwindling with each unsuccessful search. "At the fourth place too, my children's names were not on the list, and they were not there," Tamang told Reuters, her voice heavy with despair. "I had come to accept that both my children were no more. All I could do was weep."

At least 17,000 children have been affected by the floods in the districts north of Kathmandu, according to UNICEF. The agency is working with the Nepalese government to identify and reunite separated children. Tamang's family, however, is among the luckier ones, as the floods have claimed at least 580 lives, with around 2,500 people missing in Nepal and China's Tibet.

“

At the fourth place too, my children's names were not on the list, and they were not there. I had come to accept that both my children were no more. All I could do was weep. I couldn’t hold myself together at all.

Tamang's reunion with Zoyal was facilitated by a Reuters journalist, Sahana Bajracharya. After exhausting her search efforts, Tamang obtained the journalist's number. Bajracharya had met Ghale at a hospital in the neighboring Nuwakot district and had left her contact information, hoping to find his family. Ghale had agreed to be filmed, hoping it would help locate his loved ones.

"When you told me that you knew where Zoyal was, it didn't sound real," Tamang recounted, her voice filled with relief. "I had already given up that I would find them." She had also found her younger son alive, adding to her profound sense of relief. The boys had been on their way to school when the disaster struck, triggered by the collapse of a glacier near the Langtang Lirung mountain peak, causing a massive landslide and subsequent floods.

“

When you told me that you knew where Zoyal was, it didn't sound real. I had already given up that I would find them.