A Man Who Just Saw His Village Get Swept Away from the Nepal Flood Instantly Phoned

At around 9:20 in the morning, a phone call reached Rajendra Dawadi, principal of Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School in Nepal. A friend upriver had just watched a village get swept away by the swollen river and called to warn him.

Dawadi ordered every student already on campus to get out. Then he started calling bus drivers to tell them to turn around. One bus packed with children had already reached the school. He sent it straight back, and it crossed a newly built bridge moments before the old bridge beside it collapsed into the water.

The school had 1,643 students enrolled, with at least 900 on the grounds that morning. All of them got out. Every member of staff but one survived. Suvina Tamang, 14, said the building was swept away shortly after the last students cleared it.

The wider flooding and landslides near Kathmandu killed at least 148 people and left dozens missing. Locals call Dawadi a hero. He has been quiet about it.

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