In Nepal’s devastated Betrawati village, a woman named Chandika Kumari Shrestha was found alive inside her collapsed home, ten days after her family began mourning rites, believing she had perished in the country’s deadly floods.
The four-storey house was swept away by the floods and left in the middle of a quicksand, according to police officer Mahendra Darnal, who heard a voice saying “save me” while walking around the house.
In a rescue operation on Saturday lasting 45 minutes, Darnal and his team found Shrestha in a confined space and sent her to an army hospital.
Crews continue to recover scores of dead bodies in Betrawati, an area among the hardest hit by the floods in Nepal, with thousands remaining unaccounted for.
The town’s market and most residential buildings, some as tall as four storeys, were almost completely buried under debris left by a torrent that swept through the valley.
Rescue workers were seen digging with shovels, while some were crawling through the gaps of collapsed buildings, periodically blowing whistles to get the attention of anyone trapped and alive.
Eleven days since a glacial collapse triggered the devastating floods, close to 5,000 people are still missing, with hundreds of bodies swept onto the banks of rivers far from the ravaged Rasuwa district.
In Chitwan, hundreds of miles away, several rounds of mass burials have taken place for unidentified and badly decomposed bodies, as hope begins to fade.
Nepal authorities continue their effort to look for people stuck in tunnels and under the thick deposits of mud that have hardened over buildings, pulling out three people from the tunnels since Friday.
Others, like Shrestha, have survived in extraordinary conditions, including an 8-year-old boy who was also reunited with his mother, giving a glimmer of hope in the rescue efforts.
As the search for survivors continues, the story of Shrestha’s survival serves as a reminder of the importance of perseverance and hope in the face of disaster, and the need for continued support and aid for those affected by the floods, such as through flood relief efforts.
For the people of Betrawati, the discovery of survivors like Shrestha brings a sense of relief and renewal, as they struggle to come to terms with the devastating impact of the floods on their community.
The rescue efforts demonstrate the dedication and bravery of the rescue workers, who are working tirelessly to find anyone still alive, and to provide support and assistance to those in need.
Shrestha’s survival is an example of the remarkable stories emerging from the disaster, and it highlights the need for ongoing support and aid for those affected by the floods.
The conditions in which Shrestha survived were particularly challenging, with the four-storey house being swept away and left in the middle of a quicksand, making it even more remarkable that she was found alive, and showing the importance of the rescue workers’ efforts to search every possible location for survivors.