Believing that Chandika Kumari Shrestha had died in the devastating floods in Nepal, her family began the mourning process. However, ten days later, she was discovered alive inside her collapsed home in Betrawati village, where she had managed to survive in a small air pocket surrounded by water and mud.
Police officer Mahendra Darnal recounted how they heard a cry for help while investigating the area where Shrestha’s four-story house had been swept away by the floods and left stranded in quicksand. Following the voice, the rescuers found Shrestha trapped in a confined space and quickly transported her to an army hospital.
Despite being among the many missing individuals in Betrawati, Shrestha’s survival story stands out in an area heavily impacted by the floods. The region, covered in dense white deposits resembling concrete, continues to witness recovery efforts as teams retrieve numerous deceased individuals.
In a scene of destruction, Betrawati’s market and numerous tall residential buildings lay buried under debris from the torrent that claimed over 1,300 lives across Nepal. With thousands still missing, rescue workers persist in their search for survivors, resorting to digging and crawling through collapsed structures in hopes of finding signs of life.
As the aftermath of the catastrophic floods unfolds, nearly 5,000 individuals remain unaccounted for, with bodies washing up along riverbanks far from the disaster site. In remote areas like Chitwan, mass burials for unidentified and badly decomposed bodies have become a somber routine.
With the death toll rising, rescue operations are focused on locating individuals trapped under mud deposits and in tunnels. Recent efforts have led to the rescue of several individuals, including a Chinese citizen, from dangerous conditions. Amidst the tragedy, stories of survival like Shrestha’s and a young boy’s reunion with his mother offer glimmers of hope in the face of overwhelming loss.
