New Delhi, August 30, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Indians rescued from flood-ravaged Nepal have returned home recounting harrowing experiences of flash floods, landslides and roads being swept away, with several describing themselves as fortunate to have escaped moments before tragedy struck.
In West Bengal’s Basirhat, Anukul Poddar recalled travelling with a tourist group from Kathmandu towards Rasuwa, near the Nepal-China border, when the disaster unfolded.
“We left our hotel in Kathmandu at 6:30 a.m. in two tourist buses. After about three to four hours, both vehicles stopped. Later, the driver told us that a landslide warning had been issued. The administration had informed the drivers, and they could not proceed further,” Poddar told IANS.
He said the group saw schoolchildren crowding the roads after schools were closed, with many of them running towards higher ground.
The drivers eventually moved the tourists to a higher location. From there, Poddar said, they witnessed what appeared to be a huge white, cloud-like mass moving down the river.
“We had never witnessed anything like it,” he said.
Realising that the roads could soon become impassable, the drivers decided to return to Kathmandu. The group reached its hotel safely.
In Nagpur, a woman who had travelled to Nepal with her family thanked the Maharashtra government for helping them return home. She said the family was able to complete its trip despite the difficult situation.
Recalling their narrow escape, she said a bus was swept away from the same location through which their vehicle had passed just 15 minutes earlier.
“All of us were scared since we did not know what to do,” she said, describing herself and her family as lucky to have escaped the tragedy.
In Kerala’s Kasaragod, five members of a 36-member Malayali group returned safely after being stranded in Nepal.
One of the rescued travellers recalled that the group was travelling from Kathmandu towards the Manakamana Temple in Gorkha district on August 26 when their driver stopped after reportedly hearing about an accident ahead.
While waiting inside the bus, the passengers saw people getting out of nearby vehicles and running towards the lower side of the road.
“We followed them and then saw from a distance that parts of buildings, trees, people and smaller vehicles were being swept away into the river,” he said.
Locals told them that a dam had breached upstream, while the group later learnt through social media that a flash flood had struck the area.
The group subsequently diverted its bus into a forest and travelled about 60 km through the area. The vehicle repeatedly broke down, leaving the passengers fearing they might not make it back home.
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