When Rajendra Dawadi received a warning about a massive flood heading towards his area, he did not wait. The 47-year-old school principal immediately ordered an evacuation and helped save 1,643 children from deadly flash floods in Nepal’s Nuwakot district.
Dawadi is the principal and an English teacher at Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School in the Trishuli Valley. At around 9:20 am on Wednesday, a friend called him with a warning. A nearby village had reportedly been swept away by the river. The friend told Dawadi to run, The Times reported.
Flood Warning Reaches School Just In Time
At first, Dawadi believed the school was safe. The three-storey concrete building stood around 60 metres above the river. That changed within minutes.
A parent rushed to the school and warned that the water was rising rapidly. Dawadi immediately rang the school bell. He told teachers to get the children out of their classrooms. He also contacted school bus drivers and asked them to turn back. One bus, however, could not be reached and was already crossing a bridge.
Children Ran Towards Higher Ground
The students quickly moved towards higher ground. One girl suffered a panic attack and was taken uphill on a motorbike. Other children escaped on foot. Dawadi followed them as they moved away from the school. The group eventually took shelter under a bodhi tree. Soon after, the floodwaters surged through the area.
Mud, rocks, ice and debris smashed into buildings, bridges and other structures. The school was also destroyed. But all 1,643 children survived. Most school staff also escaped. However, two staff members were killed.
Two School Staff Members Among Those Killed
Social history teacher Santos Pariyar, 32, returned to his rented room near the river to cook breakfast. He was washed away by the floodwaters. School janitor Sultan Lama also lost his life. He had returned to the school to close its doors.
What Triggered Nepal’s Deadly Flash Floods?
The flash flood was reportedly triggered when a huge mass of ice and rock broke away from Langtang Lirung peak, near the Nepal-Tibet border. The mass fell around 1,200 metres into the upper section of the Lhende Khola river. The resulting flood caused widespread destruction across Nepal and Tibet.
Nepal has reported 768 deaths, while more than 2,500 people remain missing. China has reported 16 deaths and 546 people missing in Tibet. The disaster has also hit hydropower projects. More than 100 workers are believed to be trapped inside tunnels.
Rescue teams are working to reach them. The Nepali Army has sent air into a tunnel at the Trishuli 3A hydropower project through a pipe. India has sent an 11-member rescue team to Nepal, while China has deployed a nine-member tunnel rescue team.
Sudeep Singh Rawat is a Copy Editor at NewsX Digital with over five years of experience in digital journalism. He covers national and international news, with a focus on politics, crime, technology, public affairs, and trending topics. Before joining NewsX Digital, he worked with Business Standard, The Sunday Guardian, and other digital media organisations. His reporting focuses on breaking news, enterprise stories, and explainers that inform readers through accurate, balanced, and context-driven journalism.
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