Nepali teacher lauded for saving 1,643 students during flash floods

A school head teacher in Nepal has been widely praised for taking swift action during a devastating flash flood to save the lives of 1,643 students. According to a report by The Times, 47-year-old Rajendra Dadabi is the head teacher of Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School. Last Wednesday (26 August), at around 9:20 AM, he received a warning that floodwaters were rapidly approaching the school.

At that time, about 900 students were already present at the school, and another 700 were on their way, walking or coming by bus.

Dadabi told The Times that a friend of his in Betrawati, about five miles upstream from the school, called him in a panic and said the entire village had been swept away by the flood.

Shortly after, another student's parent came to the school and warned that the water level was rising quickly. Dadabi then rang the school bell and instructed teachers to evacuate students from their classrooms to safer ground.
Collected photo of Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School.
At that moment, he remembered that several school buses, each carrying about 80 students, were still on their way to school. Dadabi managed to contact the drivers of all but one bus and told them to turn back.

The remaining bus was crossing a bridge near the school when Dadabi spotted it and signaled the driver to turn around and go back. By then, water had already entered the school grounds. The bus managed to reach the other side safely just moments before the bridge collapsed.

The students who were already at the school were then walked to higher ground. Eventually, they took shelter under a Bodhi tree, while the school buildings were swept away by the floodwaters.

However, in this incident, the school's social history teacher, 32-year-old Santos Pariyar, lost his life. He had returned to his residence near the river and was swept away by the flood. The school's cleaner, Sultan Lama, was also swept away while heading back toward the school.

Although locals have hailed Dadabi as a hero, he does not see his role as extraordinary. He told The Times, "What else could I have done?"

Nepal is currently battling one of the worst natural disasters in recent times. Last Wednesday (26 August), after a glacial collapse near the Nepal-Tibet border, a massive torrent of rocks, ice, mud, and debris rushed down the mountain rivers, sweeping away houses, bridges, and entire settlements.  (Source: India Today)