'Why didn't you save me?' 5-year-old Nepal flood victim, who survived under rubble for 60 hours, asked parents

A five-year-old girl was reunited with her parents two days after being swept in the Nepal floods. Manisha was rescued from rubble following the catastrophic flash floods and landslides. She was found under the debris of a collapsed building near Syabrubesi in Nepal's Rasuwa district after being trapped for nearly 60 hours. Her father, who spoke to CNN, said that the family thought his daughter was dead. But then they saw the video footage of her rescue.

"She’s my child. That’s all I can say," he said. The rescuers were looking for survivors under the rubble when they heard a faint sound. Initially, they thought it was a cat. They started digging manually to reach the source of the voice, and after two hours, they discovered Manisha alive. Manisha was barely responsive at the time of the rescue. However, bad weather conditions prevented an immediate helicopter evacuation.

Also Read: 'Not an ordinary event': Nepal PM calls for action against climate change amid disaster in the Himalayas

She was taken to a rescue camp where she was given water and boiled rice water to help her regain consciousness. Manisha was later airlifted to the Teaching Hospital's paediatric emergency department in Kathmandu. She was reunited with her parents on August 30, hospital officials said in a statement, adding that she was in a stable condition.

Also Read: Nepal and Tibet floods: Warning sign of a looming disaster recorded two days before tragedy struck

Father says he stepped out and 5 seconds later the house was gone

Manisha's mother told CNN that her daughter told her that the flood came and swept her away, and she "called for Mummy and Baba". She asked them, "Why didn't you come and save me?" His father told Will Ripley that he was giving her breakfast and then left for the field. It all happened within 5 seconds, and he rushed back to save her, but the house was gone by then. When he reunited with his wife several hours later, they both collapsed and became unconscious.

At that moment, he admits, he did not think that his daughter would be alive. Manisha was found not under her own home, but beneath two other buildings. She somehow got caught in an air pocket where she survived for 60 hours. His father said Manisha's face was unrecognisable as she had injuries all over. Her condition was serious, and she had blood all around.

Nepal death toll crosses 1,000

Nepal's death toll has topped 1,000, with at least 900 workers in hydropower tunnels waiting to be rescued. More than 4,400 people are still missing. Prime Minister Balendra Shah has blamed climate change for the disaster and called on countries to take urgent steps to prevent such incidents. "It is now time for us to strongly raise with the international community the issue of the disasters we are experiencing as a result of climate change," he said.