KATHMANDU, Nepal – A man pulled from
the rubble of a collapsed hotel by a
French rescue team more than three
days after the deadly Nepal earthquake
says he was forced to drink his own
urine to survive.
Rishi Khanal, 27, had just finished lunch
at a hotel in Kathmandu and had gone
up to the second floor when everything
suddenly started to move and fall apart.
He was struck by falling masonry and
trapped with his foot crushed under
rubble.
"I had some hope but by yesterday I'd
given up. My nails went all white and my
lips cracked ... I was sure no one was
coming for me. I was certain I was
going to die," he told The Associated
Press from his hospital bed on
Wednesday, surrounded by his family.
He was surrounded by dead people and
a terrible smell. But he kept banging on
the rubble all around him and eventually
this brought a French rescue team that
extracted him after an operation lasting
many hours. By the time he was pulled
out, he had been trapped — in what
could have become his tomb — for 82
hours.
"There was no sound going out, or
coming in. I kept banging against the
rubble and finally someone responded
and came to help. I hadn't eaten or had
anything to drink so I drank my own
urine."
It was not clear if he was a hotel
employee or a guest.
"It feels good. I am thankful," he said. He
was taken away for surgery before
more details could be obtained.
More than 5,000 people are known to
have died and over 10,000 injured in
Nepal in the magnitude 7.8 earthquake.
There were also deaths in India, Tibet
and Bangladesh.
Yo