A devastating flash flood hit Nepal’s Trishuli Valley, killing over 750 people and leaving many more missing. The flood was triggered by a glacier collapse, which sent torrents of rock, ice, mud, and debris surging through the region, sweeping away buildings, bridges, and power stations. In the midst of this chaos, the principal of Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School, Rajendra Dawadi, received a warning at 9:20 am that the village was in danger, and he had to act fast to save the 1,643 children in and around the school.
Dawadi initially thought the school was safe, but a parent soon arrived with a more alarming message, prompting him to ring the school bell and order an evacuation. He called the school bus drivers, telling them to turn back, but one bus was unable to be reached and crossed the bridge just before the floodwaters swept it away. The children fled on foot, with Dawadi following behind, and eventually took shelter beneath a bodhi tree as the floodwaters destroyed their school buildings. Dawadi’s quick thinking saved almost everyone, except for two staff members who were tragically killed.
The flash flood was triggered by a huge chunk of ice and rock breaking away from a peak near the Tibet border, and the region has a history of tragic events, including a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in 2015 that killed thousands of people. Dawadi’s actions have been hailed as heroic, but he remains humble, saying “what else could I do?” as he surveys the muddy ruins of the school. The disaster has left many people missing, with over 2,498 people unaccounted for in Nepal and 546 in Tibet’s Gyirong County, and the region is still reeling from the aftermath of the devastating flood.