Lunch Break Lifeline: How a Simple Pause Saved Nepal Schoolchildren from Deadly Floods
POLICY WIRE — Dhading, Nepal — In the wake of Nepal’s devastating floods, a stroke of luck saved a group of schoolchildren. They were spared from the catastrophic event that struck on Wednesday...
POLICY WIRE — Dhading, Nepal — In the wake of Nepal’s devastating floods, a stroke of luck saved a group of schoolchildren. They were spared from the catastrophic event that struck on Wednesday because they left their classroom for a lunch break.
Other students at the Shree Bagheswori Madhyamik School in Galchhi also escaped harm. Teachers swiftly instructed them to evacuate just before the floodwaters surged in. The teachers told them, ‘There is a flood, leave your bags and tiffins,’ recounted Lakshmi Shrestha, a parent.
On Sunday, parents and children returned to the mud-covered school to retrieve belongings and assess the damage. Most students survived, according to families. The school was blanketed in thick mud, with water marks on walls indicating the flood’s rapid rise.
At least 69 schools across flood-affected districts were destroyed or damaged, impacting nearly 19,000 children, as reported by Save the Children. The government closed schools and universities for three days following the torrential rains that caused flash floods and landslides.
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The death toll from the disaster has reached 788, with 2,502 missing, according to Nepal’s disaster agency. Chinese authorities reported 16 deaths and 546 missing on their side of the border. The missing include hundreds of foreigners from over a dozen countries.
Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)
