Mother reunites with son rescued after Nepal's deadly flash floods
A mother in Nepal was reunited with her 8-year-old son, who survived the catastrophic floods that left nearly 2,000 people missing.
Following the massive flash floods that devastated Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading districts, Matti Maya Tamang, 28, believed her two children had perished among the roughly 2,000 missing persons. Her eldest, 8-year-old Zoyal Ghale, was at school when a glacier-induced surge of the Lendhe River forced him to flee into the forest, where he broke his leg and suffered facial lacerations before being airlifted to Kathmandu. On Thursday, journalist Sahana Bajracharya met Ghale at a small Nuwakot hospital and was able to contact Tamang, delivering the news that her son was alive.
Tamang traveled two hours to the hospital, where she was reunited with Ghale and later learned her younger child had survived as well. As of Friday, 1,924 people remain missing, including a quarter who are foreign nationals, and authorities remain on alert for further flooding from a newly formed glacial lake near the Tibetan border.
Why it matters
The reunion highlights the human toll of Nepal's flood disaster and the ongoing search for thousands still missing.
How this story developed
- Aug 26 Australian tourists among dozens missing after Nepal flash floods
- Aug 27 India has pledged humanitarian assistance to Nepal following the floods.
- Aug 27 A sudden glacial-lake outburst flood in the Nepal-Tibet border region has killed over 270 people and left more than 1,500 missing, including hundreds of foreign tourists.
- Aug 27 The United Nations pledged $2 million for relief efforts.
- Aug 27 Reports list at least 270 deaths in Nepal and three in Tibet, with about 90 Americans missing.
- Aug 27 The US Department of State said 90 Americans were unaccounted for in China and Nepal and it was not aware of any US deaths.
- Aug 28 Families of 39 Australians still missing after deadly floods in Nepal and Tibet are pleading for any information as a communications blackout hampers contact.
- Aug 28 Authorities warned that the debris‑clogged river and rising water in a blocked lake could cause additional flooding downstream.
- Aug 28 Rescue operations were halted for roughly one and a half hours after the lake began to overflow.
- Aug 28 A landslide-created lake on the China-Nepal border is overflowing, prompting emergency actions as the disaster has killed at least 543 people and left 1,535 missing.
- Aug 28 Death toll reported to have risen above 500 and missing persons count listed at about 977.
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