KATHMANDU: Rajendra Thapa Magar had just returned to his room after completing an overnight shift when a friend outside alerted him to the approaching flood. When he stepped outside, he saw the river, about 80 metres below their accommodation, flowing unusually and violently.
Rajendra, who had been working in Rasuwa for the past two and a half years, was familiar with the river’s usual condition. But that morning, he immediately realized that something was seriously wrong.
He had finished his night shift at around 6 am, returned to his room, washed his hands and had breakfast. While he was resting, his friend alerted him to the flood.
After seeing the river, Rajendra rushed back to his room and woke his brother-in-law, Nabin Syangtan, and another friend who were still sleeping. The three immediately ran towards a safer area, but within moments, the flood cut off their escape route.
“When we tried to run towards the road, the flood came from that direction. It sounded like a bomb exploding, and huge rocks were coming down,” Rajendra recalled. “By the time we ran out of the room, the room was already gone. The people sleeping there did not even have time to get up.”
With their escape route blocked, Rajendra and other workers reached a nearby mess where Chinese workers were staying. But there was no easy way to climb to safety from there either. The flood was tearing through the structures, while gas cylinders and other materials stored below were being swept away. People were running and screaming in panic.
At that moment, Rajendra said he had lost all hope of survival. “It felt like we would either live or die. There was nowhere to escape,” he said.
Even in that desperate situation, he searched for a way out. After breaking open a door and climbing through a window, he managed to reach the top of a wall. From there, he began pulling up his friends who were trapped below, one after another.
He first tried to rescue a Chinese worker but was unable to pull him up. He then managed to rescue others, including his friend Sujan Gole. Finally, his brother-in-law Nabin, who was frightened and unable to climb up, was also pulled to safety.
“I did what I was supposed to do. Finally, he came up and I pulled him out too,” Rajendra said. “That’s how I managed to pull seven people up and save them.”
Nabin, a resident of Hetauda Sub-Metropolitan City-15, had been in Rasuwa for only 12 days. It was his first time working there, and he had been sleeping in his room after completing a night shift when the flood struck.
“I was sleeping. My brother-in-law woke me up and pulled me to safety,” Nabin said. “Many of our friends fell into the flood right before our eyes. We were fortunate to survive.”
After escaping the flood and reaching higher ground, Rajendra immediately called his family. However, his mobile phone had very little battery remaining, so he could not speak for long.
After telling his family that he was safe and asking them not to worry, his phone switched off.
According to Rajendra’s wife, Karishma Singh Tamang, she was able to speak to her husband for a few minutes after the flood. The connection was then lost.
“We tried calling many times, but the phone did not ring,” she said. “He had told me, ‘I am safe, don’t worry.’ That was the only hope that he would return.”
Karishma’s worry was not limited to her husband. Her brother Nabin was also in the flood-affected area. As the days passed without further contact, the family’s anxiety grew over the fate of both Rajendra and Nabin.
After escaping the flood, Rajendra and Nabin, along with other workers, moved towards higher ground. Unable to leave the area immediately, they took shelter in a local school.
They remained there for five days before being rescued on the sixth day.
“We were reassured only after we saw our people in the video,” Ward Chairman Moktan said. He added that coordination with various agencies was continuing to ensure their safe return.
The two were eventually rescued by a Nepali Army helicopter. According to Rajendra, the helicopter took them to Dhunche, from where they travelled by vehicle to Hetauda via Kathmandu.
After days of uncertainty, Rajendra and Nabin finally returned safely to Hetauda. Rajendra’s mother-in-law said the flood and the ordeal that followed still felt like a dream.
“Thank God, we came back safely. We also have to save others,” she said.
According to Ward Chairman Moktan, two people from the ward died in the flood, while Hira Syangtan remains uncontacted.
“It’s difficult to say we are happy when the country is mourning,” he said. “But we are relieved that our two brothers have returned alive.”
Moktan said the ward would arrange medical treatment for Rajendra and Nabin and assist them in obtaining new citizenship certificates and other essential documents lost in the flood.
Rajendra had been working in Rasuwa for two and a half years. Nabin, meanwhile, had been working there for only 12 days when disaster struck. The flood swept away their clothes and documents, while many of their colleagues and friends were also lost.
After spending five days waiting for rescue at the school, Rajendra and Nabin were finally brought to safety on the sixth day and reunited with their families.
Rajendra, who had given up hope of survival when the flood struck that morning, returned home carrying the trauma of the disaster—and the memory of having helped save seven lives.
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