A headteacher’s split-second decision has been credited with saving the lives of 1,643 students during devastating flash floods in Nepal. On August 26, Rajendra Dawadi, headteacher of Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School, received an urgent warning about a rapidly rising river and immediately ordered classes to stop and students to evacuate.
More than 900 students inside the school were moved uphill, while another 700 students travelling by school buses were ordered to turn back. The final bus crossed a local bridge and reversed course just moments before the floodwaters hit. The bridge later collapsed under the force of the water.
Just 10 minutes after the initial warning, a massive wall of water and debris swept through the area, completely destroying the school building.
Dawadi summed up his decision simply: “If there’s no flood, we lose a day of studies. But if there is a flood, we all lose our lives.”
