Rajendra Dawadi, principal of Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School in Nuwakot, Nepal, evacuated approximately 900 students to safety before a catastrophic flash flood completely destroyed the campus last week, according to reports from the Associated Press and The New York Times. Dawadi acted swiftly after receiving urgent warnings from a staff member and a parent, ringing the school bell and directing students toward higher ground as floodwaters tore through the Trishuli Valley.
Principal Rajendra Dawadi Saves 900 Students in Nepal Flood Disaster
Evacuation Details and Bus Route Interceptions
At the time of the disaster, 900 of the school’s 1,643 enrolled students were on campus, with older students present while younger kindergarten and primary children had not yet arrived, according to the Associated Press. Dawadi also contacted bus drivers en route to the school to halt their journeys. One packed bus reached the campus just as Dawadi ordered the driver to reverse course; the vehicle crossed a newly constructed bridge moments before an adjacent older bridge collapsed, as reported by the Associated Press.
When a couple of students became traumatized and fainted during the chaos, teachers scooped them up and evacuated them on motorbikes, Dawadi told The New York Times. Reflecting on the split-second decision, Dawadi told the outlet, “I thought that even if the warning turned out to be wrong, the worst it would cost us was one day of study. But taking it lightly could mean the loss of hundreds of lives.”
Wider Devastation Across Northern Nepal
The death toll across Nepal and Tibet has surpassed 950, with more than 4,400 people remaining missing, according to the Associated Press.
The destruction of Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School marks a severe blow to local education. At least 69 schools in northern Nepal were destroyed, putting the education of nearly 19,000 students at risk, according to aid group Save the Children cited by the Associated Press. Dawadi noted that two staff members could not make it out and remain missing, while the campus where he once studied as a child has vanished beneath boulders and debris.
Community Response and Next Steps
Days after the disaster, parents embraced Dawadi and wept as they thanked him for saving their children, according to the Associated Press. “Their parents hugged me, they cried with me,” Dawadi said. Student Suvina Tamang, 14, told the Associated Press she plans to thank him for saving her life.
Dawadi maintains that rescuing his students was his basic responsibility rather than an act of heroism. As the community assesses the damage, Dawadi emphasizes that students will first require psychological counseling before lessons can resume, and he has urged the Nepalese government to rebuild the destroyed schools so children can return to classes.
