'Please run': Nepali engineer reveals steps that saved him from floods

Read the original at ABC News (AU) ↗
Cite

Rix, E., & Whiting, N. (2026, September 5). 'Please run': Nepali engineer reveals steps that saved him from floods. ABC News (AU). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-05/rasuwa-nepali-engineer-flood-survivor-rabindra-hamal/107113726

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

ABC News (AU) · collected 2026-09-05 · by Ethan Rix, Natalie Whiting

Quick Summary

A Nepali engineer, Rabindra Hamal, recounts his terrifying experience on August 26 when he and his colleagues narrowly escaped being swept away by a massive flood while working at a hydropower plant near the Upper Trishuli river. Two of his colleagues were tragically lost in the disaster, which was triggered by a warning message from upstream workers who saw the disaster unfolding. Hamal and six others managed to drive 700 meters before jumping out of their vehicle and running to safety just ahead of the main flood wave. They spent the night covered in mud after being stranded for four hours, eventually rescued when they heard a helicopter in the distance but unable to signal it down.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-05, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

On August 26, a catastrophic flood struck the Nepal-Tibet region after a glacier collapsed in Nepal, resulting in over 1,300 deaths and leaving more than 5,500 people missing. Ten days later, on September 5, rescuers pulled out two survivors: Luhaitao, a Chinese man from a hydropower tunnel in Rasuwa district, and Chandrika Shrestha, a 64-year-old Nepali woman rescued from her home in Nuwakot district. Both were airlifted for medical treatment. The rescue operations continue amid immense challenges, with the UN launching an appeal for $US50 million to help over 84,000 affected individuals.

Written for “Nepal China Flood Rescues” on 2026-10-21, grounded in this article and the 53 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Nepal China Flood Rescues
World · 54 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 15% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
NBC News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 no claims extracted 📰 publisher trust 95
“Both articles describe the same incident of floods in Nepal, involving the rescue of engineer Rabindra Hamal and his colleagues from the Rasuwa region.”
BBC News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 3 📰 publisher trust 69
“Both articles report on a rescue incident involving floods in Nepal, with one article mentioning tunnel rescues and the other describing an engineer outrunning floodwaters”
Deutsche Welle
⚖️ Leans strongly left 🔴 19% hedged 6 of 31 📰 publisher trust 95
“Both articles describe a devastating flood in Nepal, specifically mentioning the same region (Bhotekoshi-Trisuli river basin/Rasuwa region) and hydropower facilities, and one of the engineers mentioned in Article B is also mentioned as being affected by the floods in Article A.”
The Hindu
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 26 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe the same floods in Nepal, specifically mentioning the Rasuwa region and the Upper Trishuli river, with Article A discussing relief efforts and Article B telling a personal story of survival during the floods.”
The Hindu
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 2 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe the same catastrophic floods in Nepal, with Article B providing a personal account of the incident from one of the survivors.”
The Hindu
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 15% hedged 5 of 33 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe a massive flood on August 26 in the Trishuli valley, specifically mentioning the hydropower plants and the rescue efforts involving engineers.”
The Hindu
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 5% hedged 1 of 19 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe the same flood incident in Nepal's Rasuwa region on August 26, with Article A describing a close call for an engineer and Article B discussing its aftermath.”
NPR
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 5% hedged 1 of 19 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles mention a devastating flood and mudslide incident at a hydropower tunnel or plant, specifically mentioning the Upper Trishuli river in Nepal's Rasuwa region, suggesting they are reporting on the same event from different perspectives.”
The Hindu
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 18% hedged 4 of 22 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles mention the same location (Rasuwa region) and similar details about a devastating flood, with one article specifically mentioning a hydropower plant and two colleagues being swept away”
Al Jazeera
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 6% hedged 3 of 47 📰 publisher trust 60
“Article B describes a personal account of a narrow escape, while Article A reports on the broader impact and rescue efforts after a major flood”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
33
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
15%
5 of 33 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
68/100
ABC News (AU)'s corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
54
World
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-05 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

ABC News (AU) · 3593 article(s) · 9 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 9 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Ethan Rix
8 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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🔮 "Isn't it that the case that your intention was on obtaining as much financial assistance from Mr Jones as you possibly could?" Ms Bashir suggested.
🔮 "I went in there [the bathroom] with a loofah, I just soaked it and scrubbed my mouth as much as I could," he said.
🔮 "She was answering all the [emergency operator's] questions that I couldn't answer, and doing all the things to make sure that this guy was OK."
🔮 "If Alan Jones was brought up in a conversation you could visibly see [Complainant M's] body language change."
🔮 "What I may not be able to give is who was sitting at my table … what direction I was facing.
🔮 The engineer said two from his group of seven, a driver and cook, were not as lucky and were swept away in the flood waters before they could reach higher ground.
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Natalie Whiting
5 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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🔮 The engineer said two from his group of seven, a driver and cook, were not as lucky and were swept away in the flood waters before they could reach higher ground.
Also by Natalie Whiting
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

ABC Nepal Nepali Rasuwa Tibet

Subjects

Hamal PERSON · 7× Budhathoki PERSON · 2× Nepali NORP · 2× Rabindra Hamal PERSON · 2× ABC ORG · 1× Hollywood ORG · 1× Kathmandu GPE · 1× Nepal GPE · 1× Rasuwa GPE · 1× Tibet GPE · 1×

Narrative

Mr Hamal recalled being 700 metres from base camp as a "large muddy wave" followed behind. Two of his colleagues were swept away in the floods, while the surviving group of five were rescued four hours later. Nepali engineer Rabindra Hamal has recalled the terrifying moments he and his colleagues outran an oncoming torrent of water and mud to clamber to safety.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-05
🔮 The engineer said two from his group of seven, a driver and cook, were not as lucky and were swept away in the flood waters before they could reach higher ground.
2026-09-05 · ABC News (AU)
'Please run': Nepali engineer reveals steps that saved him from floods · assertive framing

Claims (33 extracted, 5 hedged)

In short: Nepali engineer Rabindra Hamal was working by the river in the Rasuwa region when his colleagues radioed his team to run. asserted
colleagues → work → team
Mr Hamal recalled being 700 metres from base camp as a "large muddy wave" followed behind. Two of his colleagues were swept away in the floods, while the surviving group of five were rescued four hours later. Nepali engineer Rabindra Hamal has recalled the terrifying moments he and his colleagues outran an oncoming torrent of water and mud to clamber to safety. asserted
he → recall → safety
Mr Hamal had been stationed at the hydropower plant by the Upper Trishuli river in Nepal's Rasuwa region on August 26 when colleagues working upstream sent them a dire warning. asserted
colleagues → station → warning
The 46-year-old told the ABC that about 8:30am a colleague on the dam side of the river, about 10 kilometres upstream, relayed a message over the radio informing his team that disaster was heading their way. asserted
disaster → tell → way
"He was also running and was just saying, 'Please run, please run away, please run away, [a] huge flood is coming',"he said. asserted
flood → run → ?
"We immediately informed all our colleagues who were working with us in our office and rushed outside. asserted
who → inform → office
"Once we got outside, there was lots of confusion and panic around us." asserted
we → get → us
A video shared among his colleagues shows the moment a large wave engulfed the dam as workers fled for their lives, closer to the Tibet border. asserted
workers → share → border
Mr Hamal said himself and six others jumped in a vehicle and quickly started driving downstream to get as far away as possible. asserted
himself → say → vehicle
He said they had only travelled 700 metres from their camp before they noticed a "large muddy wave" right behind them. asserted
they → say → them
"It just looked like [something from a] Hollywood movie … asserted
It → look → movie
I cannot even describe [it]," he said. asserted
he → describe → it
"We abandoned the vehicle … and started running towards higher ground. asserted
We → abandon → ground
"Fortunately, it was not the main flood wave because that gave [some of ] us enough time to reach … safe ground. asserted
that → give → ground
"But unfortunately, we lost our two friends." asserted
we → lose → friends
He said the flood wave hit them but because of a small boulder in front of them, they were able to avoid the full impact of the wave and travel just five metres more to escape danger. asserted
they → say → danger
The engineer said two from his group of seven, a driver and cook, were not as lucky and were swept away in the flood waters before they could reach higher ground. uncertain
they → say → ground
A verified video circulating online shows the base camp with red coloured rooftops, where Mr Hamal said his team were stationed, being destroyed by the flash flood just minutes after they escaped. asserted
they → circulate → flood
Ground began 'shaking violently' as second wave approached Loading... asserted
wave → shake → ?
He said his group thought they were safe standing on a large boulder before the ground beneath their feet started "shaking violently" as a second, even larger flood wave approached. asserted
wave → say → feet
"We were afraid that the rocks around us might fall … fortunately no rock fell and we were able to survive and stay their safely." Four hours later, the surviving group of five heard a helicopter in the distance but they could not wave it down. uncertain
they → fall → it
Mr Hamal said they spent the night covered in mud, on a boulder in the middle of the jungle. asserted
they → say → jungle
"It was a very difficult and frightening night we experienced," he said. asserted
he → experience → ?
"The next day, fortunately, we were rescued by helicopter, finally reached at home safely. asserted
we → rescue → home
"It's completely miracle, I didn't believe that I could be able to survive, It's completely miracle." uncertain
It → believe → ?
Hundreds of hydropower workers remain missing The group were eventually evacuated to a nearby army barracks before being evacuated to Kathmandu. asserted
group → remain → Kathmandu
Geologist Harichandra Budhathoki was working at another hydropower site at the time, but by chance left just hours before the flood hit due to an unrelated medical emergency. asserted
flood → work → emergency
"The scale was so huge … no one could have imagined this," Mr Budhathoki said. uncertain
Budhathoki → imagine → this
Both grateful to be alive, Mr Hamal and Mr Budhathoki decided to join the search effort and flew out to several work sites to look for survivors on Thursday. "If we get [to save] one person's life, it will be very fruitful to my life, that's why Ineed to go there," Mr Hamal said while he waited for a helicopter to take him out to the Upper Trishuli 1 site. asserted
he → decide → site
Mr Budhathoki hoped his expertise could help find the dozens of workers who were believed to be trapped in hydro tunnels underground. uncertain
who → hop → tunnels
"I know every ins and outs of the tunnels, I know the alignment, the size, volume, so for the rescue team I should be able to provide the crucial details," Mr Budhathoki said. asserted
Budhathoki → know → details
Early on Friday, two people were rescued alive from a hydropower tunnel at the Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station, nine days after floods hit the area. asserted
floods → rescue → area
Nepali authorities have rescued about 300 people from hydropower projects in the region so far. asserted
authorities → rescue → region
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