Archive · 1 Sep 2026
Nepal Principal Evacuates 900 Students Before Flood Destroys School
Rajendra Dawadi was the principal and an English teacher at a school in Nepal.
One morning, people warned him that a dangerous flood was coming.
He rang the school bell and told about 900 students to leave quickly.
Teachers, guards and bus drivers helped move the children toward higher ground.
Some students were frightened, and one child was taken to safety on a motorbike.
Soon afterward, water, mud, rocks and debris swept away the school and nearby structures.
Two staff members were reported as missing in one account and as killed in another.
Dawadi said saving the children was his responsibility, not something that made him a hero.
He now wants the school rebuilt and classes restarted, with counselling for students who were traumatized.
Rajendra Dawadi ordered about 900 students and staff to higher ground after receiving several flood warnings around 9:10 a.m.
The students represented part of the school’s 1,643-member enrollment, with mostly older pupils present that morning.
Floodwaters carrying mud, boulders and debris destroyed the three-story school shortly after the evacuation.
Buses were turned back or sent toward safer areas, while teachers helped frightened students reach higher ground.
Reports differ on the wider toll, citing nearly 800 deaths in Nepal or more than 900 across Nepal and China, with thousands missing.
- Who
- Rajendra Dawadi, principal and English teacher at Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School, evacuated about 900 students.
- What
- He ordered a rapid evacuation before flash floods destroyed the school and surrounding area.
- When
- Around 9:10 a.m. on a Wednesday; the flood followed about 13 minutes after the first warning, according to one report.
- Where
- Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School in Nuwakot district’s Trishuli Valley, Nepal.
- Why
- He received several warnings that floodwaters were moving through the area and had already swept through an upstream settlement.
Heroic Rescue
Professional Responsibility
How Dawadi’s actions should be viewed
Heroic Rescue
Parents, students and media accounts portrayed Dawadi’s rapid decision as an extraordinary act of courage that saved about 900 lives.
Professional Responsibility
Dawadi rejected the hero label and said evacuating the students was his responsibility as principal.
What should happen next
Heroic Rescue
The successful evacuation is the immediate focus amid a disaster that destroyed the school and endangered children’s education.
Professional Responsibility
Dawadi emphasized practical recovery, including counselling, rebuilding the school and resuming classes, even if students must temporarily relocate.
- Students evacuated
- About 900 students were moved to higher ground.
- Total enrollment
- The school had 1,643 students.
- First warning
- Dawadi received the first urgent warning at about 9:10 a.m.
- School destruction
- The three-story school building was swept away by water, mud, boulders and debris.
- Evacuation timing
- One report said the flood arrived around 9:23 a.m., about 13 minutes after the first warning.
- Staff casualties
- Two staff members were reported as unable to escape; accounts differed on whether they remained missing or were killed.
- Education impact
- Save the Children said at least 69 schools in northern Nepal were completely destroyed, putting nearly 19,000 students’ education at risk.
- Wider disaster toll
- Reports cited nearly 800 deaths in Nepal or more than 900 deaths across Nepal and China, with thousands still missing.
