This Principal's Quick Call Saved 1,600 Students From Nepal's Flood

A school principal in Nepal is being hailed a hero after saving 1,600 students from last week's deadly flooding event. Read on for the details of how this principal acted quickly to save hundreds of students from the impending disaster.

School Principal Credited with Saving Hundreds of Lives in Nepal Flood

While most of the news coming out of Nepal this week is tragic, there are also stories of hope in the face of disaster. Rajendra Dawabi, principal of the Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School in Trishuli Bazaar, Nepal, is being credited with safely evacuating and saving over 1,600 students in the moments before the building was overcome by floodwaters.

Dawabi received a phone call on Wednesday at 9:20 am from a panicked friend located about five miles upstream on the Trishuli River. Dawadi told the media that his friend warned him that the village was buried by the floodwaters and resulting mudslide. According to Dawadi, his friend told him to run to safety.

Just as Dawabi was considering how to act, a parent ran into his office telling him that the water was rising fast. Dawabi immediately rang the school bell, instructing the 900 students and teachers to race to higher ground. Another 700 students were on the way to school on buses. Dawabi called this group and urged them to turn back. One of the buses drove across a bridge in the moments before it collapsed.

Dawabi made the right decision. The school was destroyed in an instant by the roaring floodwaters that went on to devastate this region of Asia.