{
  "id": 4531546,
  "title": "Nepali teacher saved hundreds of students from flood, minutes before it arrived",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/31/nepali-teacher-saved-hundreds-of-students-from-flood-minutes-before",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-31T00:07:57.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "ABC News AU",
    "slug": "abc-news-au",
    "url": "https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-31/nepal-tibet-flood-school-students-saved/107096670"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In a devastating flood that swept through Nepal last week, a heroic teacher named Rajendra Dawadi saved approximately 1,600 students from certain doom. The head teacher at Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School in Nuwakot made the life-saving decision just 10 minutes before the school was engulfed by the rising waters. Dawadi recounted receiving crucial warnings about the impending disaster, which prompted him and other teachers to quickly evacuate the students.\n\nMeanwhile, at the Shree Bagheswori Madhyamik School in Galchhi, a group of schoolchildren managed to escape when they left their classroom for a lunch break, just before the floodwaters arrived. Teachers at this school urged the children to quickly leave their belongings and evacuate, which helped them survive the catastrophe.\n\nIn an interview with the BBC, Dawadi expressed his pride in saving so many lives, emphasizing that if they had delayed their evacuation by even 10 minutes, the outcome could have been tragic. The flooded area had once been home to a three-story school building near a temple and a market, but the flood completely washed it away.\n\nAs rescue teams reach more affected regions, the destruction caused by the floods becomes increasingly evident. At least 69 schools have been destroyed or damaged, leaving nearly 19,000 children without access to education. The government has ordered schools and universities to be closed for three days following the torrential rains that triggered severe flash floods and landslides across various parts of Nepal, resulting in at least 794 fatalities and over 2,500 people unaccounted for.",
  "summary": "About 1,600 schoolchildren were saved by their teacher shortly before the school was inundated in last week's devastating floods.",
  "key_points": [
    "Teacher Rajendra Dawadi saved 1,600 students from flood",
    "Dawadi and teachers evacuated students 10 minutes before flood",
    "At least 69 schools destroyed, 19,000 children affected"
  ],
  "editors_take": "The heroic actions of teachers like Rajendra Dawadi underscore the critical role educators play in emergency situations, where swift decision-making can mean the difference between life and death for their students.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}