Survivors of massive flash floods in Nepal have recounted how they saw their loved ones disappear into torrents of mud.
More than 175 people have died and 800 others are missing after floods wiped out entire villages on the border of Nepal and Tibet on Wednesday, with a force so powerful seismologists initially identified it as an earthquake.
Rescuers trudged through thick mud and debris on Thursday as Nepalese authorities rushed to bring aid and relief supplies to the affected areas.
“My family members were swept away by the flood in front of my eyes,” Kalpana Malla from Nepal’s Nuwakot district told the BBC. “They could not escape the flood; there was no chance at all. This flood took everything, but my son and I climbed the rooftop of a house and survived.”
Her son, Sugam Malla, said he saved his mother by pulling her hand, but his sister’s phone was no longer reachable. “I am worried she must be swept away.”
Another survivor, Goma Pandit, said she had lost her buffaloes and all her cattle. “My farmland is also swept away. Ten sacks of mustard seeds, tons of corn and rice paddy are all gone. Nothing is left.”
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At Kathmandu’s TU Teaching Hospital, families of those missing in the floods wait anxiously for updates. Ram Khumari Shrestha said her husband, a driver, had been in contact until 8pm the previous evening but his phone was switched off the next morning.
Trekking guide Sonam Dorjee missed the flood in his home village by about an hour. As he drove to Kathmandu he heard floods gushing into the village. “It sounded like an earthquake,” he said. “My house has collapsed.” His sister, her husband and several other family members are missing.
Many survivors are now left without homes and need emergency rescue, evacuation, food, temporary accommodation and medical support. The disaster struck with such sudden force that some initially believed it was an earthquake.
Originally reported by BBC News.
Read the original report at BBC News →
Source: BBC News.
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