Two heart-broken brothers have told of how their lives have been torn apart after devastating floods struck the Nepal-Tibet border and left more than 500 people dead.
More than 90,000 people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, the Red Cross said on Friday afternoon, as aid officials voiced fears of further flooding.
“The flood took my wife and child. It took everyone,” Girilal Budhathoki told The National from a hospital offering critical care to those caught up in the disaster.
His brother Newall desperately sought to console him as he admitted he no longer wanted to live after losing his loved ones during a harrowing ordeal.
Sitting beside Girilal at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj, Newall recalled the moment he realised his brother had survived the flood but most of his family had not. “There was no chance to save anyone,” Newall said. “Nobody knew it was coming.”
Rescuers are continuing to search for survivors in the valleys and hillsides of Nepal.
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An elderly survivor is transported to a safer place in heavy machinery following flash flood and mudslide at Trishuli in Nuwakot district, Nepal. Reuters -
A flood survivor returns to home following a flash flood in Devighat Village, Nuwakot district, Nepal. EPA -
Houses lying deluged in sludge after flash floods at Devighat, Bidur Municipality, along the confluence of the Trishuli and Tadi rivers in Nepal's Nuwakot district. AFP -
A flood survivor returns to home following a flash flood in Devighat Village, Nuwakot district, Nepal. EPA -
A child, who was airlifted from Rasuwa district, receives first-aid at a mobile hospital inside the Maithali Barrack, an army training centre, which also serves as a primary base to airlift survivors following flash floods and mudslide at Trishuli in Nuwakot district, Nepal. Reuters -
A CCTV footage shows people running away as wall of mud and water destroys buildings in a valley at Nepal-China border, in Gyirong, Tibet region, China. Reuters -
Relatives of flood victims stand outside the army base where survivors are brought by helicopters following a flash flood in Devighat Village, Nuwakot district, Nepal. EPA -
A drone view shows mud covering buildings following a flash flood in Trishuli, Nuwakot district, Nepal. Reuters -
A woman searches for her belongings at a damaged shop following flash floods and a mudslide in Trishuli, Nuwakot district, Nepal. Reuters -
Army personnel walk past a helicopter landing with rescued flood-affected residents from flash floods, at an army camp in Battar Bazar town in Nepal's Nuwakot district . AFP -
Women carry belongings from their damaged homes after a flash flood and a mudslide, in Galchhi, Nepal. Reuters
More than 1,000 people remain missing in the Himalayan country and neighbouring China after a wall of ice, mud and rock collapsed into a mountain river, triggering a catastrophic flash flood.
Nepal Police said in its latest update on Friday afternoon that 547 people are confirmed to have been killed so far, with more than 1,400 people injured.
Dozens of bodies were swept down into the plains from where they were being recovered. More than 4,000 police personnel are responding to the disaster.
Authorities in Nepal are using helicopters to search for survivors and drop emergency supplies to thousands cut off in towns and valleys, after Wednesday's disaster swept away a road thronged with trekkers and pilgrims that links Kathmandu with Lhasa in Tibet.
Newall said at least 11 people from their village were still missing, including relatives.
Trail of destruction
With roads leading into the area destroyed, he was eventually evacuated by helicopter and taken to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital for treatment.
At the hospital on Thursday, his was one of many stories of loss and survival.
Ambulances were arriving one after another, carrying people rescued from flood-hit districts. Relatives waited outside and gathered around information counters with names and photographs of people they could not find.
Some had already checked other hospitals. Others stood making calls, hoping somebody might know whether their loved ones had been rescued, admitted elsewhere or were still missing.
Scene of devastation
I later visited the National Trauma Centre in Mahankal, where more survivors were being treated.
A doctor there said patients had arrived with broken arms, spinal injuries and other trauma. More were expected as rescue teams continued trying to reach communities cut off by washed-out roads and bridges.
The doctor said the hospital was prepared to treat survivors, including those who arrived without money, documents or relatives. The government and other authorities were expected to help cover the cost of their care.
Watching the injured arrive, I kept thinking about my journey back from a trek in Mustang just a day before the flash floods.
It had been raining heavily and the river beside the mountain road had become increasingly rough. The water moved with frightening speed and had risen so high that it appeared almost level of the road.
We were already high in the mountains but the water still felt dangerously close. From inside our car, I remember thinking that a little more rain could have been enough to sweep us off the road.
It was a different part of Nepal from the region later devastated by the floods, but it gave me a sense of how quickly conditions in the mountains had changed.
The roads were narrow and the rain did not stop. On one side were steep slopes, on the other fast-moving water. If the river had risen suddenly, there would have been nowhere for us to go.
The following day, a huge surge of ice, rock, water and debris tore through the Nepal-Tibet border region.
The Trishuli river reportedly rose by as much as nine metres in only 30 minutes. Dozens of bridges were destroyed, cutting off towns and villages and leaving helicopters as one of the few ways to evacuate the injured and deliver emergency supplies.
Even in Kathmandu, signs of the disaster were impossible to miss. Ambulance sirens could be heard across the city and helicopters passed overhead.
At both hospitals, families continued to arrive with photographs and names, searching for people who had still not been found.
