Nepali Woman Found Alive 11 Days After Family Began Mourning Her Death

September 6, 2026: In a remarkable rescue amid Nepal’s devastating floods and mudslides, a 64-year-old woman was found alive 11 days after she went missing, despite her family having already begun funeral rites believing she had died.

Chandika Shrestha was discovered trapped inside the remains of her home in Betrawati, in Nuwakot district, after rescue workers heard a faint cry for help coming from beneath the debris.

The four-storey building had been swept away and buried by floodwaters and thick mud. Shrestha survived in a small pocket of air within the wreckage.

According to Nepalese police, rescuers were moving around the destroyed structure on Saturday when they heard someone calling for help. A team led by police officer Mahendra Darnal then spent about 45 minutes digging through the debris before reaching Shrestha.

She was reportedly found in a semi-conscious state and taken for medical treatment before being transferred to an army hospital in Kathmandu.

Shrestha’s family had searched for her for days after the floods swept away her home. With no sign of her and the disaster zone covered in mud and debris, relatives eventually concluded that she had died.

They began traditional mourning rituals and even prepared an effigy using Kush grass, a practice used when a body cannot be recovered.

The family was reportedly informed that Shrestha had been found alive while the mourning process was underway.

Her extraordinary survival has provided a rare moment of hope in a disaster that has devastated communities across Nepal.

The rescue came as emergency teams continued searching through areas devastated by catastrophic floods and mudslides. Reuters reported that more than 1,300 people had died, while thousands remained unaccounted for.

Rescuers have continued searching collapsed buildings, tunnels and thick layers of hardened mud for signs of life. Other survivors have also been pulled from the disaster zone days after the floods struck, keeping hopes alive for families still waiting for missing relatives.

Shrestha’s rescue is now being seen as one of the most extraordinary survival stories to emerge from the disaster.