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A Nepalese principal evacuated more than 900 students from his school just minutes before a flash flood swept through the building
Rajendra Dawadi, principal of Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School in Bidur, Nepal, was warned that floodwaters were heading towards the area on 26 August.
He immediately stopped classes and ordered students and staff to evacuate to higher ground.
The school was later destroyed by the flood.
Dawadi was teaching when a colleague rushed in with a warning that floodwaters were making their way through the Trishuli Valley
He then received several more warnings from people upstream, including reports that floodwaters had already swept through the settlement of Betrawati.
With the school located between the Trishuli River and a hydropower canal, Dawadi decided there was no time to wait.
He ordered classes to stop and had the school bell rung to alert everyone.
More than 900 of the school's 1,643 students were already on campus that morning. Dawadi told them to leave the building and head towards higher ground, while teachers helped organise the evacuation.
Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School.
Image via Desh Sanchar
He had about 10 minutes to get everyone out
Dawadi told the BBC that he received four calls at around 9.10am warning him about the impending disaster.
He quickly decided to evacuate, telling students to run towards higher ground and ordering buses that were still bringing students to the school to turn around.
Parents also rushed to the school to collect their children, while others made their own way to safer areas.
Dawadi said the flood arrived around 10 minutes after the evacuation began.
"If we didn't make a quick decision, if it was 10 minutes later, we all – including the students and me – wouldn't be able to speak to you today."
The school was swept away shortly after
Dawadi told Reuters that one school bus had already reached the area when he instructed the driver to turn around.
The bus managed to cross a newly built bridge, but moments later, the old bridge beside it collapsed as floodwaters surged through the area.
The school itself was eventually destroyed, leaving the building buried beneath mud and debris.
While more than 900 students and 16 faculty members escaped the school, the disaster still claimed lives within the school community
Dawadi told Reuters that at least one school staff member and the school accountant's mother were missing.
The school accountant had also rushed home after warning Dawadi about the flood to check on his parents. He managed to get his father to safety, but his mother was swept away when their home was destroyed.
Dawadi's quick decision to evacuate has since been praised by parents and students, but the principal has described his actions as simply doing what he needed to do to protect his students.
