When a massive glacial collapse sent ice, rock, mud and floodwaters roaring through Nepal’s Rasuwa district in late August, the Khadka family of Salyan district faced a desperate four‑day search for their son, 21‑year‑old civil servant Ayush Khadka.

Hope Amid the Deluge

Ayush had spoken to relatives the night before the disaster, and his social‑media profile appeared online the next morning, giving his family a fragile thread of hope. As the floodwaters swept through valley towns and villages, the family joined thousands of others clinging to any sign of survival.

Coordinated Rescue Efforts

Ayush’s paternal uncle, Ganesh Khadka, waited for two days near the Nepali Army’s Maithali Barrack in Nuwakot, a key coordination hub for rescue operations. The family repeatedly provided officials with Ayush’s name, workplace, and last known location in Timure, but received few answers.

Roads to Timure were destroyed, and private helicopters had been requisitioned by the government for rescue missions, limiting the family’s ability to reach the flood‑hit town where Ayush was stationed.

Discovery of a Body

Unbeknownst to most relatives, authorities had already recovered a body believed to be Ayush’s on the day of the disaster, which has claimed at least 939 lives and left about 4,000 people missing.

On August 27, Ayush’s maternal aunt, Laxmi Thapa, visited a temporary holding centre in Chitwan where photographs of recovered bodies were displayed for identification. She recognized a mole on the left side of the chin and a black religious protection thread (a ‘buti’) that Ayush habitually wore on his left arm, though it had slipped toward his wrist.

Although the family examined the image closely, they chose not to show it to Ayush’s mother, Muna Khadka, to spare her further distress.

Final Confirmation

Four days after the flood, on August 30, the family finally informed Muna that her son had died. The next morning, relatives traveled through the night from Salyan to Chitwan, arriving around 8 a.m. Exhausted but resolute, they stood before the recovered body and confirmed their worst fear.

Later that day, about 35 relatives gathered on the banks of the Narayani River to cremate Ayush. “We were so happy when he was born, and equally happy when he passed the civil service examination at such a young age,” Laxmi said, “and now he has left us in tears.”

Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.