After spending more than 120 hours under the rubble, the boy, originally from Nuwakot district, was pulled out by the APF squad working for more than six hours starting 7:15 am.
Pemba, who was a handyman and dishwasher at the guest house since the last one month, got trapped under a window shutter and debris inside the kitchen located in the basement.
"I was standing in front of the guest house counter after doing the dishes and all of a sudden I found myself in total darkness and covered over with debris," Pemba said, recounting his ordeal at the Israeli-run field hospital at Chauni.
With a few cuts and bruises in different parts of his body, Pemba surprised the rescue squad as he looked fresh and energetic beyond their expectations.
"It was a rare moment of joy for us to rescue the boy alive within a short time after sniffer dogs confirmed that someone was trapped inside the wreckage," said DIG Narayan Babu Thapa, in-charge of the operation.
"I first thought I was dead but realized I was still alive as I repeatedly lost and regained consciousness," Pemba recalled adding, after many hours he tried to get something to eat. I stayed alive by eating some ghiu I located with my hand and sucking water from cleaning cloths.
Disaster expert at APF, Inspector Laxman Bahadur Basnet, who was deployed from the Kurintar Disaster Management Team, said Pemba appeared fresh and responsive when he first approached the boy.
"I crawled into a gap, cut through obstacles such as motorbike rods and a window shutter in a 12-15 foot passage to get to him," Inspector Basnet said.
According to him, Pemba first asked for water and enquired how long he had been trapped. "You were there for a few hours only, keep patient, you're okay," I replied.
"He told me his name and address and started to mutter some song," Basnet said. The boy was eventually pulled out with the help of other members of the squad and the use of a jackscrew.
As they could not pull the boy out at first they had to make a hole through the shutter, he said. They cleared the spot with the help of a suction device and then pulled him out by the legs.
"I remembered everyone close to me except my father, who compelled me to leave home. I have a new life now and I will begin anew," he said with a smile.
In a brief conversation after his rescue, Pemba said he had exchanged words with two others trapped near him but it could not be confirmed whether they are still alive or not, DIG Thapa said.
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