Families in flood-hit Nepal have begun returning to their homes to salvage belongings and rebuild their lives after the devastating flash floods that swept through the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli river system on August 26.
The death toll crossed 700 on Sunday, while around 2,500 people remain missing as rescue teams continue search operations across northern and central Nepal.
In Galchhi, about 50 km northwest of Kathmandu, residents are clearing mud and debris from their damaged homes.
"Everything was here before, but now there is nothing left. Everything has been destroyed. It feels really bad. But we will rebuild it. We will work hard and make the house like it was before," said Class 11 student Nayan Tiwari.
Nayan said he was in Kathmandu when the floods struck and immediately asked his family in Galchhi to move to higher ground. Soon after they left, floodwaters swept through the area, damaging their home and washing away more than 15 nearby houses.
His cousin Nivi Tiwari also returned from Kathmandu to find their family home buried under mud and sand.
"I had never seen such a devastating flood before. When I came back and saw my house, I felt completely helpless," she said.
"We are working hard with our family to make this house like it was before. We will repair it soon because our childhood was spent here. We learned to walk and read in this house. Now it has been badly damaged, but we will rebuild it," she added.
In Trishuli in Nuwakot district, residents searched through wreckage for belongings and missing relatives, while displaced families gathered at relief camps in Devighat for food and shelter.
A catering worker at one of the camps said free meals would continue for as long as survivors needed them.
"We will not say that the food supply has ended. Whoever comes here will be provided free meals," the worker said.
At a teaching hospital in Kathmandu, families gathered outside the morgue as photographs of flood victims were displayed to help identify those still missing.
Among the missing are eight men from Bihar's Samastipur district who were working at a tyre and hardware shop in Nuwakot district. Their phones remain unreachable, relatives said.
The floods also stranded pilgrims returning from Nepal. Kerala resident Renjitha Vinay Kumar said she witnessed huge trees being swept away.
"It's a blessing that we escaped and survived," she said.
Another pilgrim, Vineeth Kumar, recalled seeing water rushing through the area with tremendous force.
"About 500-600 metres away, we saw water gushing out like a tsunami," he said.
The disaster was triggered by an ice-rock avalanche following a glacial collapse near the Nepal-Tibet border, sending a massive torrent of water, mud and debris downstream through the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers.
(With inputs from PTI)
