Nine workers employed at the construction site of Sipring Hydropower Project in Dolakha were killed after their camp was swept away by landslides and floods in Mulkharka Monday night while five persons of a family in Dassera-8, Jajarkot died when a house went down early Tuesday morning following incessant rain. [break]
Two workers are still missing after the camp set up at Guarishankar-9, Mulkharka for the construction of dam was swept away, according to police. The camp for workers constructing a tunnel at the dam site was first swept away by landslides and the swollen Sipring river then swept the workers away.
Senior mechanic at the project Kapil Yadav of Janakpur, survey helper Bhishma Rana and electrician Om Bahadur Pun of Baglung have died in the incident.
Similarly, laborers Shailesh Rai of Ramechhap, Pushkar BK of Khare, Dolakha, Lakpa Chhiri Sherpa and his wife Wengdu of Gaurishankar, Lal Singh Tamang and Sundar Tamang of Dolakha have also been killed. The missing workers have been identified as Shyam Tamang and Man Singh Tamang of Dolakha.
Lakpa Chhiri had been carrying pebbles and sand for the project for the past five months while his wife was running an eatery inside the construction site, according to Dolakha district police. Seven more have been injured with critically injured Chakra Bahadur Tamang and Dudhe Tamang being airlifted to Kathmandu for further treatment.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Dhiraj Pratap Singh said the rest are being treated at the district headquarters Charikot.
Police and locals were involved in the rescue work since early morning while a Nepal Army helicopter took the injured to Charikot in the afternoon. A police team led by inspector Binod Khadka had recovered the buried bodies around 100 meters away from the site of incident.
Locals were angry as the Home Ministry sent the chopper only in the afternoon despite the local administration asking for one since morning.
Bhim Bahadur Shrestha, sand and pebbles contractor, said the residential camp was wept away by landslide at around 10 at night. Shrestha, who sustained minor injuries, said the water from swollen Sipring river entered the camp soon after it was swept away by the landslide.
The place of incident, that lies at the border of Khare and Gaurishankar VDCs, has Sipring river to the east and south and a big cliff to the north.
Likewise, in Dassera of Jajarkot, Dalbir Badi, 35, his daughters Jayara, eight, and Sarita Devi, six, and sons Niraj, four, and Deepak, three, died on the spot after being buried under the rubble at around three in the morning, according to Chief District Officer (CDO) Khem Bahadur Thapa.
Dalbir´s wife Devisara, 32, was dragged out of the rubble by a police team that reached the spot from Area Police Office, Badaban at six in the morning. She is undergoing treatment for injuries to her arm and back at a local clinic, CDO Thapa added.
Locals learnt about the incident only in the morning as the stone-roofed house was a little away from Thalaha bazaar by the side of Chhedakhola, which is around 20 km to the west of district headquarters Khalanga. The police team from Badaban, an hour trek from the spot, left for the spot immediately after being informed and started rescue operation.
"It would have been possible to rescue people alive had we known about the incident immediately," chief of Jajarkot District Police Office, DSP Ram Pyara Kharel said. The police team found all five members dead while Devisara was unconscious.
"She regained consciousness only at around 10 in the morning and is mentally disturbed right now," he added.
The dalit family was earning its living by fishing in the river. Police said the tattered house may have gone down unable to withstand the heavy rainfall.
CDO Thapa said the District Administration Office is preparing to send funeral expenses and further relief would be provided to the survivors through the District Natural Disaster Fund.
(With inputs from Kamal Thapa of Rukum)
I escaped by hanging on to roots: Bhim Bahadur Shrestha
It had just started to drizzle at around six in the evening and we all went to bed after having dinner. The drizzle suddenly became a downpour at around nine. I had slept alone at the store and soon there was a big sound of landslide.
Everyone sleeping inside the camp started to shout in panic while police friends who had stayed a little away for security of gelignite started to blow their whistles directing everyone to come outside. A large rock fell upon the room where I was sleeping in and a few friends from the next room and I tried to break through a fence.
I was swept away by the flood after I got out of the room. I managed to grab at the root of a tree or shrubs. I cried in pain as stones and mud swept by the flood hit me. I cried more as more mud and water came over me after I got trapped between two stones a little away.
Bhattarai sir and a few friends then rescued me. I had no hope of being alive. I was saved by the god´s grace but sadly my junior colleagues have gone. Lakpa Chhiri and his wife used to work extremely hard. It turned out both were swept away. I am feeling extremely sad.
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