'It took everyone': Brothers tell of devastation after deadly floods on Nepal-Tibet border

Two brothers from a village along the Nepal-Tibet border have spoken of the devastating impact of recent floods that struck their region, leaving hundreds dead and many more missing. Girilal Budhathoki told The National, "The flood took my wife and child. It took everyone," while his brother Newall attempted to console him, confessing he no longer wished to live after losing his loved ones in the disaster.

Newall said, "There was no chance to save anyone," as nobody had foreseen the impending catastrophe. Rescue efforts persisted in the valleys and hillsides of Nepal, with over 1,000 people still unaccounted for in the Himalayan country and neighboring China. Nepalese authorities are utilizing helicopters to locate survivors and deliver emergency supplies to isolated communities, following the disaster that swept away a road connecting Kathmandu with Lhasa in Tibet.

Among the stories of loss and survival at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital was that of Girilal, who lost his wife and child. At the National Trauma Centre, doctors treated patients with various injuries as more survivors continued to arrive from the affected areas. The government and other authorities were expected to cover the costs of their medical care.

As a reporter recalls his own experience near the affected region, he reflects on the rapid and sudden nature of the disaster, with the river rising by nine meters in just 30 minutes, destroying bridges and cutting off towns and villages.