SINDHULI, Aug 12: Landslides triggered by incessant and heavy rainfall for almost a week have killed four persons of the same family in Kamalamai Municipality of Sindhuli district in the wee hours of Saturday. The victims had been living in a makeshift tent at Sindhulimadi-2 of the district.
The deceased have been identified as Durga Kumari Khadka, 32, her 15-year-old daughter Shova, 10-year-old son Anish, and another 8-year-old son Manish, according to the District Police Office, Sindhuli. Luckily, Durga's husband Udaya Bahadur Khadka managed to flee and save his life. He is the sole survivor of the family.
The devastating Gorkha earthquake of 2015 destroyed the Khadka family's house an since then they had been living in the makeshift tent. The landslides buried their house at around 2 am on Saturday. Locals said Nepal Police had deposited mounds of earth on the land above the makeshift tents of Khadka. That very mud buried Khadka's home. “If Nepal Police had paid attention on time, the unfortunate incident wouldn't have taken place,” said a local entrepreneur.
“I was sleeping when I felt some heavy object pressing against me. Then I realized that it was a landslide and somehow managed to get out of the house in the nick of time while the landslide was still occurring,” said a devastated Khadka, who lost his wife and three children in the landslide.
Photographs of Sindhuli on display
“I called my wife and children following the landslide, but none spoke. We had slept together in the same house but I had lost them when I woke up,” he said, with eyes full of tears.
Locals said dozens of houses in the landslide area are still at risk. They have demanded proper management of trees in the area in order to 'avert possible dangers'.
Khadka is a daily wage laborer and had been running his family through the measly sum he earns on a daily basis. His deceased wife used to contribute to the household expenses by washing clothes and dishes of entrepreneurs of the district headquarters.
The four deceased were cremated on the banks of Kamalamai River. “Everyone was saddened during the cremation,” said Ujjwal Thapa, ward chairman of Kamalamai Municipality-6. He said the whole Sindhulimadi Bazaar is mourning the incident.
