Woman pulled alive from buried home 10 days after Nepal floods

Rescue workers in Nepal pulled a 64-year-old woman alive from her home buried under mud and debris on Saturday, 10 days after catastrophic floods swept through the Himalayan nation, offering a rare moment of hope amid a disaster that has killed more than 1,300 people.

A Rescue Against the Odds

Chandrika Shrestha was found on the upper level of a four-story building in Nuwakot district, where her home had been engulfed by rubble since the August 26 floods, according to the Associated Press. Members of Nepal's Armed Police Force cheered as the mud-caked woman was extracted from the wreckage, AFP reported.malaymail+1

"A police team found her as they were clearing the area. She has been airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment," police deputy superintendent Iqbal Hawari told AFP. Her family had believed she was dead and had begun preparing her funeral, CNN reported, citing local ward chief Ganesh Nepal. Her husband, Ananda, remains unaccounted for.cnn+1

Separately, a Chinese national was rescued from a 225-meter tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project in Rasuwa district on the same day, according to a post by Nepal's Office of the Prime Minister. Three workers in total have now been pulled alive from the Trishuli hydropower project.arabtimesonline+1

A Mounting Toll

The floods, believed to have been triggered by a glacial collapse upstream in Tibet, struck the Nepal-Tibet border region on August 26. As of Saturday, 1,344 bodies had been recovered in Nepal, with roughly 5,000 people still missing, according to the national disaster agency. More than 11,000 people have been rescued since the disaster began, Prime Minister Balendra Shah said.newsindiatimes+3

The 'Miracle Green House'

Amid the devastation, a mint-green building in the flood-hit region has become an unlikely symbol of resilience. Dubbed "the miracle green house," the roughly 40-year-old structure remained standing while nearby buildings were destroyed by the torrent of water, mud and rocks, keeping its residents safe. The New York Times featured the building, which has drawn widespread attention as communities across Nepal grapple with the scale of destruction.nytimes+1