‘Nothing Is Certain’: Nepal Survivor Recounts Deadly Flood

KATHMANDU, Aug 28 (Bernama-dpa) -- Nepalese villager Parbati Adhikari said the flash flood that struck a mountainous area along the border with China had almost completely destroyed her village and left the fate of its residents unclear, reported German Press Agency (dpa).

“We could not believe it when we heard about the flood,” the 49-year-old mother said.

Some 60 to 70 people lived in Tupche village in Bagmati Province, but it was not known how many had survived, Adhikari said.

She survived after leaving the village on Wednesday morning to visit a nearby temple.

On the way, she and others heard about the flood and managed to contact a villager, who told them that almost everything had been destroyed.

Adhikari tried to return home but was stranded after five bridges were washed away.

She spent the night on the road with others before soldiers directed them to an army training ground in Battar Bazar, where they found temporary shelter.

There, she was reunited with her husband and son, as well as relatives and neighbours who had survived.

“We want the army to take us home. We only have to cross the river,” she said as helicopters took off from the site on rescue missions.

An army doctor said about 700 injured people had been treated at the site on Thursday.

Most had suffered fractures or other relatively minor injuries, while those with serious injuries were being taken to nearby hospitals or hospitals in Kathmandu.

Adhikari said she did not know where she would spend the night. “Nothing is certain,” she said.

-- BERNAMA-dpa