Nepali Woman Found Alive 10 Days After Her Family Began Mourning Her

A Nepali woman has been found alive 10 days after devastating floods swept through her village, even as her family had already begun mourning her presumed death.

Chandika Kumari Shrestha was discovered inside her collapsed four-storey home in Betrawati, Nuwakot district, after rescuers heard a faint voice coming from beneath the debris.

The house had been swept away by powerful floodwaters and left surrounded by thick mud. Rescue workers searching the area heard someone calling for help and began digging toward the sound.

Police officer Mahendra Darnal said the rescue operation lasted about 45 minutes. Workers eventually reached Shrestha, who had survived inside a small pocket of air within the collapsed structure.

Her survival came as a shock to her family. Authorities said relatives had already begun an 11-day mourning ritual, believing that Shrestha had died in the disaster.

Shrestha was taken to an army hospital following her rescue.

Betrawati was among the areas hardest hit by the floods and mudslides. Large sections of the village were buried beneath debris, while rescue crews continued searching damaged buildings for other survivors and victims.

The disaster had already claimed more than 1,300 lives across Nepal, with thousands of people reported missing at the time of the rescue. Despite the scale of the destruction, search teams continued looking for signs of life beneath collapsed buildings and inside tunnels.

Shrestha’s rescue became one of the remarkable survival stories to emerge from the disaster — particularly because her family had already begun the process of saying goodbye to her.

Sources:
Reuters – Nepali woman found alive days after family began mourning rites
The Business Standard – Nepali woman found alive days after family began mourning rites