Without the mango tree, I would have died: Nepal flood survivor

A mango tree became an unlikely lifeline for a 24-year-old labourer who was swept away by a devastating flash flood in Nepal, as the death toll from floods and landslides rose to at least 165.

Vivek Kumal was digging a pit for a toilet outside a newly built house in Bidur on Wednesday when he heard a deafening roar. Four co-workers working above the roughly five-foot-deep pit urged him to climb out and run to safety.

Kumal had barely escaped the pit when a torrent of water, mud and rocks surged through the area, sweeping him downstream.

“I started running. Then there was a tremendous sound, like an earthquake, and a huge torrent of water came down,” Kumal told Reuters from Kathmandu’s National Trauma Centre, where he is receiving treatment.

As the current carried him away, he became trapped in the branches of a mango tree and clung to it until help arrived.

“Luckily, I got caught in a mango tree. Without that tree, I would have been swept away and died,” he said.

From the tree, Kumal watched helplessly as the house where he had been working was also swept away. Police later rescued him and took him to safety. He suffered injuries to his right leg, first from the rushing water and later from being struck by a large rock.

Three other flood survivors are being treated alongside Kumal at the trauma centre, while many more injured people are being brought to Kathmandu from affected areas. Authorities said more than 114 people have so far been rescued alive.

The flash floods are believed to have been triggered by a massive flow of mud and rocks into a river upstream near the Nepal-Tibet border. The sudden surge then swept through downstream settlements, destroying homes, roads and other infrastructure.

Security camera footage from the Chinese side of the border showed people running for their lives moments before a wall of water, mud and debris tore through the area, carrying away buildings and vehicles.

The precise cause of the landslide remains unclear. The German Research Centre for Geosciences said a magnitude-4.4 earthquake struck the area about seven minutes before the event captured by security cameras.

Nepal is highly vulnerable to floods and landslides during the monsoon season. Kumal himself survived the devastating 2015 earthquake, which killed nearly 9,000 people.

Another survivor, 11-year-old Rihana Lamichhane, was being treated in a nearby bed at the same hospital. She was returning home after her school was closed because of the flooding when a sudden surge swept through as she crossed a river.

Rihana suffered injuries to her chest and leg but survived.

“I am safe, and that is what makes me happy. But I still do not know what happened to my friends,” she said.

Her mother, Rita, said she rushed to find her daughter after receiving a phone call from one of Rihana’s friends. Finding her alive brought immense relief.

“Nothing serious happened to my daughter. That is enough to make me happy,” she said.