"Miracle house" survives Nepal floods as family sheltered upstairs

A house in Nepal has been hailed as a symbol of survival after powerful floodwaters swept through the area, destroying buildings, roads and bridges.

The turquoise-coloured house in Trishuli Bazaar, Nuwakot district, remained standing as torrents of water, mud and debris tore through its lower floors, Caliber.Az reports per British media.

Videos shared on social media show the floodwaters ripping away doors and windows while members of the family sheltered on the upper floors. The reinforced-concrete structure held firm, allowing the family to survive.

The residents were identified as Prakash Pandey Pyakurel, 45, his wife, their two children and his elderly parents.

Pyakurel and his wife were at a nearby shop when the floods struck. Their seven-year-old son had left for school 15 minutes earlier, while their 11-year-old daughter was preparing to leave.

The couple returned home, and the family remained trapped for nearly two hours as floodwaters carrying ice and debris battered the house from all sides.

“We were frightened. We prepared ourselves, these are the end times,” Pyakurel told The Telegraph. “We have got a new life. Everyone is saying that it’s a miracle.”

Their son survived because his school was in a safe area.

A family member later waved a red flag from the house to attract the attention of a rescue helicopter.

The floods followed the collapse of part of a Himalayan glacier near the Nepal-China border last August 26. The resulting flash floods swept huge quantities of rocks, trees and mud through downstream areas, destroying settlements and damaging roads, bridges and communications infrastructure.

The death toll across Nepal and China was revised to 908 on August 31, while more than 3,000 people remained missing.

The floods also damaged 19 bridges and about 40 km of highway, while more than 10% of Nepal’s power-generation capacity was knocked out, according to the Stimson Center.

Government officials said the flooding began at about 08:32 local time. An alert was sent to mobile phone users at 09:13, after authorities confirmed the flooding, although at least four monitoring stations had already been destroyed.

By Aghakazim Guliyev