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An Armed Police Force team discovered Chandika Kumari Shrestha on the upper floor of her four-storey house in Betrawati within Bidur Municipality of Nuwakot district, where she had been trapped since August 26 along with four missing family members. A video of the moment, matching the BBC report titled Watch: Moment 64-year-old Nepali woman is found alive in mud-buried home, captured force members cheering as the mud-caked survivor was extracted from the wreckage. She was airlifted first to a military barracks in Trishuli for initial care and then to a hospital in Kathmandu, the Kathmandu Post reported.
The flash floods stemmed from a glacial and rock collapse near the Nepal-China border on August 26 that sent a massive wave of water and mud down the Bhotekoshi river basin, devastating towns and villages across northern and central Nepal, according to the national disaster agency. Nepal’s national disaster agency figures show 1,344 bodies recovered domestically with about 5,000 people still missing while Chinese state media reported 31 deaths and 531 missing on the other side of the border. Combined, the toll stands at 1,375 confirmed fatalities with more than 5,500 unaccounted for as searches entered their second week.
Emergency personnel rescued a Chinese national named Luhaitao from a 225-metre tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project in Rasuwa district on the same day, the Nepali army reported in a separate operation that also revived hopes among affected families. In late August, a 97-year-old woman named Guna Maya Bohara was pulled alive after four days trapped under debris from a destroyed care home, The Times of India noted in its coverage of the wider disaster. These cases stand out amid the grim recovery effort that has so far focused on locating both survivors and victims in hard-to-reach Himalayan terrain.
Shrestha was located by a nine-member police team while crews cleared sludge from the site, where lower floors of the building remained fully submerged, police deputy superintendent Iqbal Hawari told AFP. Officials described her as initially unconscious but responsive to early treatment before the transfer to the capital for further evaluation, the Kathmandu Post stated. The rescue occurred on the 11th day after the floods began, underscoring the endurance required in such operations.
Scientists continue to analyse the precise chain of events that led to the August 26 avalanche, according to assessments published by the Kathmandu Post. Preliminary government estimates place potential reconstruction costs for the affected zones as high as 5 billion dollars, the newspaper added in related reporting on long-term impacts. Coordination among the Armed Police Force, Nepal Army and local bodies has remained central to the response across multiple districts.
The survival stories emerge as thousands of residents remain displaced in temporary shelters while families press for information on loved ones still missing from the Bhotekoshi river settlements, Nepal’s national disaster agency data shows. Emergency teams have maintained round-the-clock operations despite logistical challenges posed by the altered landscape and ongoing instability in the region. Authorities have not released further details on Shrestha’s full medical condition following her hospital admission.
