Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
A 60-year-old woman was found alive in Nepal on Saturday, 10 days after floods tore through the Bhotekoshi river basin, killing more than 1,300 people and leaving around 5,000 missing. Chandika Shrestha was rescued from a four-storey house buried under debris in Nuwakot district.
Her rescue has raised hopes that some of those still missing since the August 26 disaster may yet be found alive as search teams continue to work through mud, debris and buried homes. Describing the rescue, Armed Police Force Inspector Suman Bik told local media, “We had previously searched and conducted rescue operations at this exact spot and heard no sound at all.”
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According to Kantipur, Shrestha, who is from Betrawati in Bidur Municipality, had gone missing along with members of her family when the floods hit. After days without finding her, her family had begun funeral rites, believing she had died.
On Saturday, an APF team passing through the Betrawati area heard a faint voice near the buried house, Bik said. The team cleared mud from around the structure and broke through a window to get in. As rescuers crawled inside, Shrestha began speaking more clearly, he said.
Bik told Onlinekhabar that Shrestha was found with about half of her body buried in mud, with only part of her body and her head visible. He said the rescue operation took around 40 to 45 minutes.
Shrestha was later pulled out and flown to Kathmandu in a Nepali Army helicopter. She is being treated at Birendra Military Hospital in Chhauni, according to Kantipur. Rescue officials quoted by The Kathmandu Post said the floods had shifted the house from its original location and buried most of it in mud. The newspaper reported that three-and-a-half storeys were completely buried and half of the fourth storey was submerged in mud.
Shrestha’s husband, Anandlal Shrestha, is still missing, and other family members are also unaccounted for, Kantipur reported. Her rescue from the buried house has become a rare sign of survival amid the devastation caused by the floods.
With PTI Inputs
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
