Nepali woman found alive 10 days after family began mourning her death
BETRAWATI: Believing she had perished in Nepal’s deadly floods, the family of Chandika Kumari Shrestha started the ritual of mourning the elderly woman’s death.
When Nepali woman Chandika Kumari Shrestha's family began mourning her death, they had no idea she was still alive. Ten days later, rescue workers discovered her alive inside her collapsed home in the devastated Betrawati village. The four-storey house had been swept away by the deadly floods, leaving Shrestha trapped in a narrow pocket of air amid water and mud.
Police officer Mahendra Darnal recounted hearing Shrestha's voice saying "save me" as they searched the debris. After a 45-minute rescue operation, the team found her and sent her to an army hospital. Shrestha's family had already begun an 11-day mourning period when she was found.
Betrawati, one of the hardest hit areas by the floods, also saw many others perish. Hundreds of dead bodies were recovered, and the town's market and most residential buildings were buried under debris. Over 1,300 people lost their lives in the disaster, with thousands still unaccounted for.
Rescue workers, wearing hard hats and equipped with shovels, dug through the gaps of collapsed buildings, periodically blowing whistles to alert anyone who might still be alive. Five days earlier, 24 decomposed bodies were found in the market area.
As hope begins to fade, Nepal authorities continue their search, including in tunnels and under hardened mud deposits. Three people, including a Chinese citizen, were pulled out from the Trishuli river tunnel, where over 900 are believed to be trapped.
Written by urgent.news from New Straits Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
