Sarki, who himself was rescued from the debris, was also able to save his five-year-old son. “I was able to escape from the jaws of death but I could not save my family members,” said a grief-stricken Sarki. [break]
“I had never imagined that fate would deal such a harsh blow. But I woke up the next morning only to find that I had lost everything in my life,” said Sarki, who is currently recuperating at the Karnali College of Health Sciences.
According to Sarki, he had little idea of what had happened when the landslide occurred. “I fled the house in a subconscious state when it started falling down,” Sarki recollects. “I yelled to wake all my family members but by then it was too late,” he added. He had however carried his youngest son outside when the house came down.
Devi Lal´s wife Nunnu Sarki (30), son Hari Bhakta Sarki (12), and daughters Lal Jira Sarki (9), and Susila Sarki (6) and two children in Devi Lal´s neighborhood -- Sagara Sarki (13) and Jagdish Sarki (5) -- who were sleeping at Devi Lal´s house, were killed in the landslide.
Two students --Hari Datta Sarki (18) and Tanka Sarki (18), residents of Tatopani VDC-3 of Jumla, who were taking shelter at Devi Lal´s house to appear in the SLC exams from a Badki-based exam centre, had also died in the incident.
Meanwhile, District Natural Disaster Rescue Committee has decided to provide Rs 40,000 to family members for each victim killed in the landslide.
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