Engineer in Nepal recounts survival during flash flood on the Trishuli
In Nepal, engineer Rabindra Hamal and his colleagues survived a flash flood on the Upper Trishuli River in the Rasuwa region. Two members of the group — a driver and a cook — were swept away by the torrent of water and mud before they could reach higher ground, ABC News Australia reports.
Hamal was working at a hydropower plant near the river on August 26. At about 8:30 a.m., a colleague who was around 10 kilometers upstream sent a radio warning about a major flood approaching. According to the 46-year-old engineer, workers left the office in panic, while he and six other people got into a vehicle and drove downstream.
Escape from the torrent
The group traveled about 700 meters from the camp when they saw a large muddy wave behind them. Hamal said the workers abandoned the vehicle and ran to higher ground. According to him, this wave was not the main one, which gave part of the group time to reach safety.
The torrent still reached the people, but a small boulder in front of them weakened its impact. The engineer said the group managed to move another approximately five meters and leave the dangerous area. Verified video shows the flood destroying the base camp with red roofs just minutes after the workers escaped.
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A night on a boulder and the search
The five survivors stopped on a large boulder in the jungle. Hamal said that as a second, even larger wave approached, the ground beneath their feet began shaking violently, and people feared the surrounding rocks would collapse. Four hours later, they heard a helicopter but were unable to attract the crew's attention.
The group spent the night on the boulder, covered in mud, and the next day they were rescued by helicopter. They were taken to army barracks and later evacuated to Kathmandu.
Hamal and geologist Harichandra Budhatoki joined the search for workers at hydropower facilities. Budhatoki said his knowledge of the location and parameters of the tunnels could help rescuers find dozens of people believed to remain in underground tunnels. On Friday morning, two people were rescued alive from a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli 3A hydropower plant, nine days after the flood. Nepalese authorities rescued about 300 people from hydropower projects in the region.
