A headteacher in Nepal has recounted how he saved 900 pupils by evacuating them minutes before floods hit their school. Rajendra Dawadi, head of Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School in Nuwakot, received four warning calls at 09:10 local time about the approaching disaster.
Mr Dawadi quickly decided to evacuate, instructing children to run to higher ground and diverting buses. He stated that a delay of just 10 minutes would have resulted in a catastrophe for everyone at the school.
The floods, which affected parts of Nepal on Wednesday, have claimed at least 794 lives and left 2,426 people missing. The school building itself was buried under mud and debris, with a nearby hostel engulfed immediately by the rapidly arriving waters.
Pupil Yunisha Amatya, 16, described scrambling to safety with friends just before the flood hit. She and her friends escaped uphill through a route behind the school, with the local market being swept away before her eyes.
Mr Dawadi believes his swift decision prevented a greater loss of life. He also suggested that better warning systems, such as sirens and evacuation alerts, could have helped residents respond sooner.