Add The California Post on Google A California mother who made her dream trip to Nepal has revealed her horror at being caught up in a catastrophic flash flood that killed more than 600 people.
Anjana Raja and her husband Pattabiraman Venkatesan, from the Bay Area, were among the American survivors of Wednesday’s terrifying disaster.
She said she was certain she was going to die when she saw a mountain of water surging towards them near the country’s border with China.
A massive torrent up to 160ft high was caught on video as it swept over the district of Rasuwa following a huge glacial rock and ice collapse that was so powerful it registered a magnitude of 5.2.
As many as 682 people are known to have been killed with thousands more still missing, including about 90 Americans. No one from the US has been confirmed dead.
Raja told how she was sitting on a bus when the driver and front passengers suddenly fled and left them when the landslide and water swept in.
She told CBS News: “I knew I was going to die. I knew I was going to die.” That thought popped up, she said, when they saw a mountain of water coming toward them.
She continued to ABC News: “It was water mixed with the mud that was a good 50 to 60 feet high. It stood like a serpent right there staring at us. Like a cobra’s head staring at you.”
She said she immediately grabbed her bag and her husband by the collar to rush out. She continued: “I just said, ‘leave the bus right away or we’re gonna die.'”
The couple and other bus passengers ran to a nearby camp and ascended to higher ground as the water flooded the streets.
As they climbed frantically, Raja remembered seeing the water level rising toward them, which made her think it was over for them.
“It just came like a roar, it sucked a bunch of buses, SUVs, people, the basecamp, everything — took it in, turned it, turned it all upside down and dumped it into the ground,” Raja said of the water’s power.
She had been in Nepal to do a spiritual pilgrimage to Mount Kailash. The peak is sacred to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and believers of the pre-Buddhist Bon religion.
Instead, she ended up spending the night in a goat shed with other survivors before being airlifted by rescuers the next day. The couple made contact with their daughter, a physician in California.
Venkatesan, her husband, described their survival as a “miracle” and strengthened his appreciation of life. They said they still plan on one day finishing their pilgrimage to Mount Kailash.
The flooding is believed to have been triggered when the lower part of a glacier broke off and fell from a height of around 17,000 feet, smashing into a valley floor, creating what is known as an ice avalanche.
It was not clear what caused the glacier to collapse, but the powerful torrent of water and debris it caused swept away homes, roads and businesses in Nepal.
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