At least 626 bodies have been recovered so far, while around 2,500 people remain missing. More than 300 Indians are among those reported missing.
A 97-year-old woman rescued from beneath the rubble of a care home after devastating floods in Nepal is recovering in hospital, according to her doctors. Guna Maya Bohara was trapped under debris after the flash floods swept through the area on Wednesday.
Her rescue took around four hours and was carried out by police and the Nepal Army. Her great-nephew, Dipak Bohara, travelled from Kathmandu to help with the operation.
‘She Looked Like A Warrior’
Speaking to BBC Nepali, Dipak said his great-aunt looked like “a warrior” who had returned victorious from battle. He recalled how his brother and son went further into the affected area using a rope tied to trees. They later told him that Guna Maya was still alive, although many others appeared to have died.
Bohara was eventually brought out of the rubble and carried to safety in the shovel of an excavator.
A video showing the 97-year-old sitting inside the excavator bucket has gone viral. Her mud-covered clothes and exhausted expression have become one of the most striking images to emerge from the disaster.
Trapped Under Care Home Rubble
Bohara had been staying at a care home when the floods tore through the area and left her trapped beneath the debris, BBC Nepali reported.
Police and the Nepal Army spent around four hours working to pull her from the rubble.
After being rescued, she was taken to hospital, where she is now recovering. She has been unable to explain how she managed to survive while trapped beneath the flood debris, Le Parisien reported, citing The Times.
Her rescue has given the wider disaster a human face, with the image of the elderly survivor being carried through the wreckage drawing attention far beyond the site.
626 Bodies Recovered, 2,500 Missing
The rescue came amid one of Nepal’s worst flood disasters, with hundreds of people confirmed dead following Wednesday’s flash floods.
Scientists believe the flooding was triggered by a glacier collapsing in the Himalayan border region with Tibet.
The collapse caused sudden and massive flooding in the Bhote Koshi River in Nepal’s Rasuwa district.