Nepal floods
Nepal flood hero: Teacher saves 900 students after getting four urgent warnings
The prompt action of a Nepali school head teacher helped save the lives of hundreds of students from a devastating flood that ravaged parts of the Himalayan nation and left hundreds dead.
Rajendra Dawadi, head teacher of Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School in Nuwakot, evacuated around 900 students to safety after receiving multiple warnings about the risk of flooding in the area.
The school has a total student population of just over 1,600.
Dawadi told the BBC that he received four warnings from different people within a matter of minutes, informing him that floodwaters had already swept through the upstream settlement of Betrawati.
"I decided I shouldn't delay any more. Even if the flood was not coming, it was just a matter of a single day's classes," he told the BBC.
His decision to evacuate the students came as Nepal grappled with one of its deadliest flood disasters in recent years.
The death toll from the devastating floods that hit Nepal last week has risen to 734, as rescuers continue efforts to locate and save possible survivors trapped beneath the rubble.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), in its search, rescue and relief update issued at 9 a.m. on Sunday, said 734 bodies, including human remains, had been recovered from several flood-hit districts, The Kathmandu Post reported.
Chitwan recorded the highest number of recovered bodies, with 259.
According to government data, 2,498 people remain unaccounted for.
The missing include 933 hydropower project workers, 562 people in Rasuwa and 115 in Nuwakot. The list also includes 27 Nepal Police personnel, 45 Nepal Army personnel, 13 Armed Police Force personnel, 15 customs officials and four immigration officials, The Himalayan Times reported.
Meanwhile, Nepal has decided to begin burying unidentified and unclaimed bodies recovered from the devastating flash floods as authorities struggle to preserve the remains amid limited storage facilities and concerns over the risk of infection, according to media reports.
Authorities in Chitwan have faced difficulties preventing the bodies from decomposing due to a shortage of space and adequate facilities at hospitals.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
