Survivors of the deadly floods on the Nepal-China border recount harrowing tales of running for their lives, narrowly escaping disaster, and witnessing a major calamity and its aftermath. Rescue crews have been plucking survivors from along the valleys ravaged by the tsunami-like flow of water and debris apparently unleashed by a glacier's collapse.
Terrifying Escape
Sivaranjani Muthunathan, a 46-year-old traveler from India, was on a bus with 56 others from Tamil Nadu heading towards the Chinese border when they became trapped. 'Then there was fog, smoke, something that seemed to suddenly engulf us,' she told AFP, showing a video she recorded of a torrent surging towards her. Vehicles were swept away or buried under mud around them. 'One by one, we also climbed out through the driver's side,' she recounted, scrambling up a hill.
Another pilgrim, 53-year-old Vijayabhuvaneshwari, described the scene: 'Every vehicle in front of us, behind us, was gone. As we were climbing up, we could hear what felt like explosions. They were rocks and boulders crashing.' With older members struggling, Poonguzhali Ponmambadan, 61, unwrapped her sari and gave it to her husband to use as a rope to lift several elderly people.
Disaster at the Dam
Workers rescued from dam projects along the Trishuli valley described a disaster that unfolded with terrifying speed. Dev Shrestha, who was airlifted from the site, said, 'There were at least 400 workers at the site. More people died than were rescued.' Buddha Tamang, another worker, survived because he was inside a tunnel at the dam when the flood struck.
Arjun Kumar Tamang spoke of'massive damage' at the hydropower site. Ananay Sharma, a 29-year-old engineer from India, described the scene: 'When I came out, everything was gone, only the river remained. One residential camp completely washed away, another remains where we took shelter.' Gorakh Khatka, an engineer in Shanti Bazar, ran for his life as mud and water reached 20 feet high. 'We ran for our lives and spent more than 48 hours on a hill before help finally arrived.'
More than 1,400 people were still missing, many of them foreign tourists, and over 550 people were confirmed dead. The disaster has left a trail of devastation and grief, with survivors sharing their stories of narrow escapes and the overwhelming force of nature.
