- Chandika Shrestha, 64, was found alive 11 days after being swept away by a flood in Nepal, surviving in a semi-conscious state.
- Rescue teams located her inside a house in Betrabati Bazaar just as her family began performing funeral rites with a grass effigy.
- She was airlifted to the Nepali Army Hospital in Kathmandu for treatment, where she is currently under medical observation for 72 hours.
- Family members, who had abandoned the search after eight days, described her miraculous survival as an act of divine intervention.
Kathmandu, Nepal: A 64-year-old woman who had been missing since the Bhotekoshi River flood in Rasuwa was found alive on the 11th day after her family had already begun performing her funeral rites.
Chandika Shrestha of Bidur Municipality-10, Nuwakot, was rescued from a house in Betrabati Bazaar in a semi-conscious condition. An Armed Police Force team led by Police Inspector Suman Bik found her inside the house of Anand Shrestha.
She was taken by helicopter to the Nepali Army’s Maibel Barracks in Trishuli for initial treatment and was later brought to the Nepali Army Hospital in Chhauni, Kathmandu.
Shrestha and her husband were inside their four-and-a-half-storey house when the flood swept it away. According to Rameshman Shrestha, a relative of the family, the house was carried by the flood and later came to rest near the Trishuli River.
“We searched for her for eight days, but could not find her anywhere. We had no choice but to believe that she was gone,” Rameshman said.
Shrestha’s son-in-law searched for her for two to three days along the banks of the Betrabati and Trishuli rivers. The search became difficult after decomposing bodies were found in the area and the smell made it difficult to stay without wearing a mask.
Rescue workers were also unable to reach some places because of mud and difficult ground conditions.
After eight days without finding her, the family decided to perform the funeral rites. They made an effigy using kusha grass and began the rituals at their home in Sano Bharyang, Kathmandu.
Rameshman said he still wondered whether Shrestha might have survived.
“I kept thinking that if she was somewhere in the house, she might have reached an upper floor and survived on whatever she could find, even water or instant noodles,” he said. “I thought we should search one more time.”
The family had started the funeral process after consulting among themselves and dealing with the necessary ward office procedures.
Their plans changed on the 11th day when they were informed that Shrestha had been found alive.
Rameshman went to the hospital after receiving the news from his daughter by phone and seeing information on Facebook. He has not yet been allowed to meet Shrestha.
Doctors have asked the family not to visit her for 72 hours. Rameshman has been waiting outside the hospital.
Shrestha’s grandson is also at the hospital. Rameshman said the boy has been crying and has not been eating properly.
“He saw her photograph and said he wanted his grandmother, so I brought him here,” Rameshman said.
He said the boy had spent the previous day singing devotional songs.
“We had lost hope, but we got my sister-in-law back,” Rameshman said. “It made me feel that God really does exist.”
