Headteacher evacuates 900 students minutes before deadly Nepal flood

A headteacher at Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School in Nuwakot evacuated about 900 pupils and staff roughly 10 minutes before floodwaters struck, the school’s principal Rajendra Dawadi told the BBC, preventing large-scale loss of life as the disaster claimed at least 794 lives and left 2,426 people missing.

Dawadi said he received four separate warnings at 09:10 local time (03:25 GMT) that a major flood was approaching and immediately ordered students to run to higher ground and buses to turn back. He emphasised that a delay of minutes would have been catastrophic: “If it was 10 minutes later, we all — including the students and me — wouldn’t be able to speak to you today,” he said.

The flood arrived with such force that the school building was buried under mud and debris and a hostel about 100m from the river was engulfed. Many pupils and teachers initially underestimated the danger; some students were in class or a maths lesson when evacuation orders came.

Sixteen-year-old pupil Yunisha Amatya described scrambling uphill with friends through an escape route behind the school and reaching safety by seconds. She said teachers first gathered and then informed students about the flood roughly five minutes before they fled. Yunisha recounted that one student fainted on hearing the news and that her group climbed a narrow ladder at the back of the school while the nearby bazaar was swept away.

Students and teachers first moved a few hundred metres uphill and later reached a neighbouring village, but with roads cut and transport disrupted many remained stranded for two nights before rescue teams reached them. Principal Dawadi and Yunisha, both living across the river from the school, were eventually airlifted back to their home village.

Parents searched desperately for children; Yunisha’s mother Sabina Kumari Shrestha said she repeatedly tried to call her daughter and husband without success. Yunisha’s father, Yubaraj Amatya, rushed toward the school and feared the worst until a phone connection an hour later confirmed his daughter’s survival.

Liberal News Analysis: What Does This Development Mean?

The account details a rapid local response: multiple warnings received by the headteacher, an immediate evacuation order, and successful movement of students and staff to higher ground. The headteacher attributes the lives saved to swift decision-making, while the story highlights how quickly floodwaters engulfed school buildings and the nearby bazaar. The narrative includes personal testimony from a pupil and family members, and notes subsequent isolation and delayed rescue due to damaged roads.

Quick Glance: What You Need to Know

• Headteacher Rajendra Dawadi ordered evacuation after four warnings at 09:10 local time, likely saving around 900 pupils and staff.
• At least 794 people died and 2,426 were reported missing in the wider floods; the school and nearby hostel were buried by mud and debris.
• Pupil Yunisha Amatya and others reached safety by seconds after scrambling uphill; many remained stranded for two nights before rescue teams arrived.