Archive · 6 Sep 2026
Nepali Woman Rescued Alive After 11 Days Under Flood Debris
Chandrika Shrestha was trapped inside her damaged home after severe floods in Nepal.
Her four-storey house was swept uphill and buried in mud.
Rescuers searched the wreckage for people who might still be alive.
On about the eleventh day, they heard a woman calling for help.
They dug by hand and reached Shrestha through a window.
She was unconscious but alive in a small space with air around her.
Rescuers gave her first aid and flew her to an army hospital.
Her family had already started mourning because they thought she had died.
Armed Police Force rescuers heard faint cries while searching a flood-buried home in Betrawati, Nepal.
They dug through hardened mud and broke through a window to reach 64-year-old Chandrika Shrestha.
Shrestha was found unconscious and partly trapped in a small air pocket on the house’s fourth floor.
She received first aid before being flown to an army hospital for treatment.
Her family had begun mourning rites believing she had died, although reports differed on when those rites began.
- Who
- Chandrika Shrestha, 64, was rescued by Armed Police Force personnel; separate tunnel rescues involved the Nepali Army, a South Korean team, and Chinese national Lu Haitao.
- What
- Shrestha was found alive after being trapped under mud and debris for roughly 11 days following devastating floods.
- When
- The floods struck on August 26, 2026, and Shrestha was rescued around the eleventh day; reports differ slightly on the precise rescue sequence and date.
- Where
- Her home in Betrawati, Bidur Municipality-10, Nuwakot, Nepal; she was taken to an army hospital for treatment.
- Why
- Rescuers were searching buried homes and heard her faint cries for help.
- Survivor
- Chandrika Shrestha, 64
- Flood date
- August 26, 2026
- Rescue location
- Betrawati, Bidur Municipality-10, Nuwakot
- Time trapped
- Approximately 11 days
- Rescue method
- Teams followed faint cries, cleared mud, and broke through a window
- Medical evacuation
- She was flown to the Nepal Army’s Maithili Barracks and then reported as being taken to Birendra Hospital in Kathmandu
- Related tunnel rescue
- Chinese national Lu Haitao was rescued from about 225 metres inside an Upper Trishuli-I hydropower tunnel
