Woman found alive in mud after being given up for dead
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The gist
A 97-year-old woman was rescued alive after four days under debris in Nepal floods. Her survival offers hope amid over 1,300 dead and 5,000 missing.
Background
Nepal experienced catastrophic floods after a glacial collapse in the Himalayas sent tsunami-like waves through valleys along the Nepal-Tibet border. The disaster killed over 1,300 people and left thousands missing. Rescue efforts have focused on finding survivors, including those trapped underground in hydropower tunnels and buried under debris.
How it unfolded
- recentlyA 97-year-old woman, Guna Maya Bohara, was rescued alive from the rubble of her care home after being buried for four days.
- Sep 5, 2026Rescuers pulled a Chinese worker, Lu Haitao, alive from a flooded tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project, 10 days after the disaster.
- Sep 5, 2026A 64-year-old Nepali woman, Chandrika Shrestha, was found alive in her buried home in Nuwakot district and airlifted to Kathmandu.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- Nepal's army said the rescued man's health is being assessed and search operations continue.
- Public
- Images of the mud-covered elderly woman being lifted from rubble have become a powerful symbol of hope.
Still unverified
The exact number of people still missing varies between sources (5,000 vs 5,500). The name of the Chinese worker was initially not confirmed by the army but later reported as Lu Haitao.