A head teacher in Nepal has recounted how he saved the lives of 900 pupils by evacuating them just 10 minutes before devastating floods hit their school.
Rajendra Dawadi, head teacher of Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School in Nuwakot, tells the BBC that he receives four calls at 09:10 local time (03:25 GMT) warning of the approaching disaster, which has claimed at least 794 lives.
He quickly orders the evacuation, directing pupils to run to higher ground and instructing buses carrying students to turn around and leave the area.
Dawadi says: “If we didn’t make a quick decision, if it was 10 minutes later, we all – including the students and me – wouldn’t be able to speak to you today.”
The warnings come from four different people within minutes, helping him assess the severity of the impending danger.
“A parent came and told me that ‘a big flood was coming, I am here to take my daughter, I will take her’,” he says.
“Parents don’t rush without a strong reason, so it was confirmed that I shouldn’t waste a second to evacuate the children.
“I decided I shouldn’t delay any more. Even if the flood was not coming, it was just a matter of a single day’s classes.
“I feel proud that we saved so many lives.”
The floods that devastate parts of Nepal on Wednesday leave at least 2,426 people missing and bury the school building under mud and debris.
Dawadi says the water arrives so quickly that a hostel located about 100 metres (328ft) from the river is immediately engulfed.
Many pupils initially fail to understand the seriousness of the situation.
Sixteen-year-old pupil Yunisha Amatya says she scrambles to safety with her friends just before the flood hits.
“I along with my friends survived by just 10 seconds only,” she tells the BBC.
“Just before the flood came, we were in the class studying. Teachers had gathered in one place and initially had no idea what had happened. After five minutes teachers came and informed us about the flood and asked us to go home.”
One student faints after hearing about the disaster, while many others initially underestimate the danger and wait for classmates who are attending a maths lesson.
Yunisha and her friends then scramble uphill through an escape route behind the school.
“I could not walk fast, and my friends helped me to climb uphill. We tried our best to be in the safer zones then. We escaped through a narrow ladder from backside of the school. Within no time, the bazaar was swept away in front of my eyes,” she says, referring to the local market around the school.
“If there was no grip in my shoes I would have fallen and students and other people were jostling each other to reach the safer area while escaping. The people who choose to escape from another route are apparently swept away.”
Students and teachers initially move several hundred metres uphill before making their way to a neighbouring village.
With roads cut off and transport disrupted, many remain stranded for two nights before rescue teams reach them.
Dawadi and Yunisha, who both live across the river from the school, are eventually airlifted back to their home village.
As the disaster unfolds, parents desperately try to contact their children and relatives.
Yunisha’s mother, Sabina Kumari Shrestha, repeatedly attempts to call her daughter and husband but cannot reach either of them.
Her husband, Yubaraj Amatya, immediately heads towards the school.
“Soon after the flood news spread, I tried my daughter’s number, but she was not reachable, then I was afraid,” he says.
“Within a few minutes I rushed toward my daughter’s school and Trishuli Bazar was all swept by the flood, then I thought my daughter was no more. I was so horrified, stopped my scooter, there was flooding but I could not think of returning without my daughter.”
For nearly an hour, he has no idea whether his daughter is alive and repeatedly calls her without success.
The phone eventually connects and Yunisha answers.
“Finally, my daughter received my call and I couldn’t stop myself, broke out… two relatives that were with me also cried and hugged me,” he says.
Yunisha becomes tearful as she recalls the moment.
“After I had reached the top of the hill, I received a call from my father. He was tearful and I could not speak a word then,” she says.
Back home, her family waits anxiously for her return.
“Even my younger daughter couldn’t sleep. But I felt so good to see her after three days (Friday), I am so happy and relieved,” her mother says.
Yunisha says she is now worried about continuing her education.
“Now I am worried about my further studies,” she says.
“If I had to change my school, I would have to miss my old friends and will face difficulties to make new friends. I am sad about my further studies.”
Dawadi says better early-warning systems, including sirens and evacuation alerts, could help residents respond more quickly to future disasters.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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