The day was Saturday and the schools were closed when the devastating 7.6-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal. The disaster caused a huge loss of lives and properties. Over 8,000 people were killed, more than 22,000 injured while tens of thousands have been rendered homeless by the earthquake. Here is a harrowing tale of an eighth grader who was taken out of her collapsed house alive after the quake.
Her name is Samira Basnet. She lives at Machhegaun in Kirtipur with her other three family members. As the school was closed, she had her food late than the normal time. Then, she turned on the TV to watch some Hindi serials. After about 15 minutes, the whole things began to shake. She said she did not notice anything at all as she was fully engrossed by the serials. But when her mud-house began to crumble, she was frightened. She could not find her way out.
Why are we alive?
In no time, the roof of the house fell on to the ground. According to her, she was not buried completely by the first quake but when the aftershock occurred in the interval of around 30 minutes she found her buried totally. She was lucky that she happened to be under the window. She sustained no serious injuries but few cuts. She could breathe because there was a gap around her nose. She had faith on herself. She said she remembered the God when she was under the debris and hoped that somebody would come to her rescue.
Then the local people along with us started searching her in the collapsed house. As the rubbles were being removed, we heard human voice, crying for help. In the meantime, we noticed a lock of hair. Then we started removing the remaining debris faster. In few minutes, we got her hand. Again we continued. Then we got her half body. Finally, we pulled her out.
The whole body ached for a week, she shared her ordeal. She felt tremors all the while and got often frightened every time the jolts occurred. Neither she could eat nor sleep properly for some days. Even though she is recovered now, her past ordeal still haunts her.
