His own house fell on those who were fast asleep
Jajarkot was sound asleep on Friday night. The family of Prakash Shah (49) of Upper Thaple, Bheri Municipality-3, was also in their first sleep. The bell of the temple near the house suddenly rang in the middle of the night. Narinthakumari Shah (51), who was sleeping on the floor, woke up to the sound of the bell ringing continuously.
“When she got up after ringing the bell, the earthquake shook her badly”, she came out after the shock of the earthquake subsided. All the houses around were destroyed, Devar Prakash’s house was also destroyed.
A family of 5 including groom-Deurani was in that house. Silo’s brother and niece of Deurani came as guests. Sarita Singh, Deputy Mayor of Nalgad Municipal Corporation, also came to the headquarters on Friday to participate in the UNDP program and stayed in a rented room in Prakash’s house.
After the shock of the earthquake stopped, Narintha and her neighbors reached the destroyed house of Prakash. Prakash’s wife was pressed by the force. She is protecting her children. After he waved his hand, we lifted the ball with a stone support. The niece was trapped by the bed and the drawer, we took 2 hours to get her out’, says Narinda, ‘the deputy mayor and brother’s brother-in-law left us.’
According to Kripal Budha, involved in the rescue, Prakash’s brother-in-law along with the drawer was covered with stones and mud from the wall of the house. He was rescued when only his head was visible. Nalgad Deputy Mayor Singh, who was in the room on the lower floor, was also crushed to death by the debris.
Prakash’s hand has been injured, his wife has been taken to Nepalgunj for further treatment. Narinda said with tears in her eyes, “Now God’s grace.”
According to District Administration Office, Jajarkot, only 42 people have died and 81 people have been injured in Bheri Municipality. 55 people have died in Nalgad Municipality, 7 in Kushe Rural Municipality and 1 in Chedagad Municipality, 105 people have lost their lives in the district.
intotal 154 people were died in this disaster.
Similarly, 51 people have died in the neighboring district of Rukum West. 78 people were injured. According to Chief District Officer Hari Prasad Pant, Aathbiskot Municipality, Saniveri Rural Municipality and Chaurjahari Municipality have been more affected.
10 people from 42 Rasaneveri of Athabiskot have died. “About 450 security personnel have been mobilized in the affected areas to make search, relief and rescue effective”, he said, “Based on the information received, there is no search and rescue work left.”
According to the National Earthquake Measurement Center, the earthquake took place at 11:47 pm with Barekot rural municipality-1 of Jajarkot as its epicenter. According to the locals, many people did not get a chance to escape because their houses were destroyed by the midnight earthquake.
Meena Khatri Wali (26) from Upper Thaple along with her husband, daughter and Nanda says, ‘We were asleep, it didn’t happen.’ . He was taken to the hospital at night. They have taken shelter in their sister’s house nearby. “My heart is still beating”, she said.
Madhusudan Sharma (62) of Upper Thaple is also unable to tell how he survived the earthquake. When he was found near the damaged house, he said, “Suddenly there was a crash.” It must be said that we managed to escape due to the grace of God.
An uproar in the hospital
In the morning, the hospital was full of wounded. The patients who came from the headquarters and nearby areas were taken to the hospital by family members and security agencies. Some parents reached the hospital carrying the bodies of children who died in the earthquake.
According to the in-charge Pratishka Bharti, there was no treatment. From the afternoon onwards, the injured were referred to Surkhet and Nepalgunj and things got easier.
District Hospital, Rukum West Dr. According to Sushil Pokharel, 250 injured people came for treatment. 7 people have been brought to Kathmandu, 25 people have been referred to Surkhet, four people are being treated in the district hospital. Others have returned home after treatment.
Former Director Badri Chapagain informed that 31 people are being treated at Bheri Hospital, Nepalgunj. One of the people who were taken to Nepalgunj died on the way, he further said, “The condition of 30 two people who are being treated is serious, the condition of the others is not serious. Arms and legs are broken, there are other injuries.
Prime Minister’s in field
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda reached the earthquake affected area early in the morning. Prime Minister Prachanda, who was also the MP of Jajarkot, along with energy minister Shakti Bahadur Basnet and other leaders, reached the Jajarkot hospital and met the patients.
The government dared to leave no stone unturned in rescue and treatment. The helicopter carrying Prachanda took 7 injured people from Nalgad to Surkhet.
Then Prachanda Rukum reached the West. Visited the patients in Chaurzahari, Sani Bhari as well as District Hospital Salle. Athabiskot Municipality-9, where the most number of people died due to the earthquake, reached Radi Bazar and met the victims.
He reached Nepalgunj with two injured people and left the helicopter of the Nepali Army there and returned to Kathmandu by a regular flight. Before that, while talking to media persons at Nepalgunj Airport, he said that the death toll has reached around 150, hundreds have been injured and thousands of houses have been damaged.
“Today, everything that should have been done on behalf of the government has been done,” he said.
A team of health workers has reached the earthquake affected area. Lumbini state government has sent a team and Karnali state has also sent more teams. Leaders and workers of political parties are also engaged in rescue and relief.
On Saturday, a meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Narayankaji Shrestma decided to send food and temporary housing materials to the districts for immediate relief management.
It has also been decided to mobilize the rescue work and relief materials through the District Disaster Management Committee through a single system and to send an amount of 5-5 million rupees to the disaster management funds of both districts.