A school principal's alertness moments before the flood saved the lives of 1,643 children in Nepal's Nuwakot in Trishuli Valley. Rajendra Dawadi, the principal of Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary school arrived, was following his usual routine when he walked inside the school on Wednesday morning, knowing little that the day was going to be unusual.
The 47-year-old principal, according to a report by The Times, received a warning from a friend that the village was wiped out.
"He said the village was gone: taken by the river. He told me to run," The Times Reported. Dawadi had 1,643 children in the three-storey building on that fateful day.
Initially, Dawadi believed that the school was out of danger as it was a concrete structure build around 60 metres above the river. The report stated that the school was at the same level as the steel bridge connecting the village with the eastern bank.
However, another alarming call came from a parent, who rushed in to warn about the rising water level.
A resident Surendar Kumar told news agency ANI that the teacher evacuated the school and got them to safety but now there is no sign of the school anymore. A temple, school, and the entire marketplace was swept away leaving many people dead. "There used to be a three-story building here—a school. There was a temple right in front of it—a Ram temple. And this whole area was a market. In that open space in the middle—that’s where the three-story school stood. 1600 students studied there. And on the very day this happened, the teachers evacuated all the children and got them to safety. There’s absolutely no sign of the school anymore; it was completely swept away. And there was a Ram temple too... Many people died here... there is no information yet on exactly how many, but the toll was high. So, everything here is gone."
Anticipating the situation to be worse than what he earlier expected, Dawadi sounded the school bell and asked teachers to evacuate the classrooms.
As more children were on the way to school in buses, Dawadi called all the drivers to turn back. A single bus driver whom he could not reach was spotted crossing the bridge.
By that time, children had also sensed the danger. A girl suffered a panic attack and was sent uphill on a bike.
The rest of the children started running towards safety. Dawadi was behind them, The Times reported. The children reached beneath a bodhi tree while their school was swept away by the monster flood in front of their eyes.
The school principal's quick thinking and timely action saved not only 1,643 students but also teachers, other students and staff in the buses.
However, a social history teacher and a janitor lost his life in the tragedy. Santos Pariyar, 32, died after he returned to his rented room beside the river to cook breakfast.
The school's janitor, Sultan Lama, was killed as he was returning to close the doors, the report further added.
Death toll climbs
The floods swept away thousands of people, ravaged villages and key infrastructures, including roads, trade routes and power plants.
The death toll in the tragedy crossed 700 on Sunday, while over 2,500 people are still missing