Nepal, Aug. 29 -- When the Bhotekoshi river surged on Wednesday morning, some people had time to run. Others did not.

Some fled along roads or up hillsides. Some raced ahead of the flood in their vehicles. One man survived by clinging to an electricity cable. Another escaped because he had been sent elsewhere shortly before the flood.

Those who survived watched settlements disappear, friends and relatives swept away and loved ones vanish.

'I survived by holding on to an electricity cable'

A young man walks barefoot along a muddy road, his body covered in silt, struggling with every step.

The image of 36-year-old Rambachan Sah of Hajminiya in Rautahat's Rajdevi Municipality-2 spread widely on social media after he survived the flood a...