Harrowing moment five-year-old girl is pulled alive from rubble after devastating Nepal floods
Dramatic footage has been released showing the moment a five-year-old was saved from the rubble of a building.
Nepal has been subjected to flash floods in recent days. Thousands of people are still missing, while hundreds of others have been confirmed to have died.
Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) said the death toll on August 30 had reached over 700 with around 2,500 people missing.
The authorities are struggling to identify the bodies of the deceased. DNA samples are being taken from the bodies which were found 'in a state of decomposition and no longer identifiable'.
Advert
Miraculously some have survived the floods though – one being a five-year-old girl.
As part of the ongoing rescue efforts, the young girl, who had since been publicly named as Manisha Magar, was discovered alive under some rubble. She's thought to have been trapped for two days.
Manisha was found on August 28 and was later taken to hospital to receive much-needed medical attention.
Rescue workers were near Syabrubesi in Ruswa, BBC News reports, when they heard what they thought was a cat. The noises turned out to be coming from the little girl and she went on to be saved.
Apparently it took two hours for them to safely remove Manisha from the rubble. She was alive but 'barely responsive'.
They wanted Manisha to be helicoptered off, but they were unable to do so because of adverse weather conditions. Instead, the five-year-old took was taken to the force's rescue camp and given water.
After feeding her boiled rice, the youngster eventually regained consciousness.
Warning: Some people may find the following video distressing
The following day Manisha was flown to the Teaching Hospital's paediatric emergency department in Kathmandu.
In an update given today, it was confirmed that Manisha has been reunited with her parents and remains in hospital to recover from the extremely traumatic ordeal.
According to The Guardian, it's thought that around 90 American nationals are among those who remain missing. Reportedly many of the Americans who are missing were on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash.
Another three people from the States have been confirmed to have been rescued, the state department said on Thursday (August 27).
Meanwhile, Nepalese authorities have said among those unaccounted for are more than 30 British nationals.
A rapid deployment team from the UK arrived in Nepal yesterday to provide support for Britons and their families.
The team, comprising specially trained crisis response staff, will work alongside the British embassy and local authorities.
The US State Department pledged $3.6 million in a statement on Twitter on Saturday. The UK is also contributing to the rescue efforts and will give a £5 million ($6,773,749) support package to help with Nepal’s response efforts, including a combination of UN, Red Cross, and NGO interventions.
To donate to Save the Children, which helps children survive wherever disaster strikes, you can visit its website.
Topics: World News, News
Niamh Shackleton