Key facts
- Headteacher Rajendra Dawadi evacuated 900 students and 16 faculty members from Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School before it was destroyed by floods.
- An accountant's early warning provided a 14-minute window for the evacuation.
- The floods were triggered by a glacial collapse in the Himalayas.
- The disaster has resulted in over 900 deaths and more than 4,700 missing across Nepal and China.
- At least 69 schools in northern Nepal were destroyed, impacting nearly 19,000 students.
Catastrophic floods and landslides in Nepal, triggered by a glacial collapse in the Himalayas, have destroyed at least 69 schools and put the education of nearly 19,000 children at risk. Headteacher Rajendra Dawadi is being hailed for his courage after he evacuated 900 students and 16 faculty members from Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School just minutes before floodwaters swept through the valley, destroying the institution.
Dawadi received an early warning from his school's accountant, who had heard from a relative in a region hit first by the disaster. This gave them approximately 14 minutes to evacuate the premises. Dawadi instructed buses en route to the school to go to safer ground and began moving students and staff to higher elevations. From a nearby hill, he watched as the school disappeared under a torrent of water, mud, and debris. The disaster has claimed over 900 lives across Nepal and China, with more than 4,700 people still missing.
The school, which had been rebuilt after Nepal's devastating 2015 earthquake, was situated on a peninsula between the Trishuli river and a hydropower canal. The destruction of schools like Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary poses a significant challenge to the region's recovery, potentially costing children months of schooling. Dawadi emphasized the need for psychological counseling for the students and urged the government to rebuild the schools to resume classes. However, the disaster has also resulted in loss, with at least one school staffer and the accountant's mother missing after their house was washed away.