This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.

Nepal Earthquake Survivor Was Forced To Drink His Own Urine While Trapped For 82 Hours

Nepal Earthquake Survivor Was Forced To Drink His Own Urine While Trapped For 82 Hours
Survivors of Saturday's earthquake hold on to a cable as a military takes off with evacuees from Kathmandu to New Delhi during a midnight rescue mission by Indian Air Force, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, April 29, 2015. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Survivors of Saturday's earthquake hold on to a cable as a military takes off with evacuees from Kathmandu to New Delhi during a midnight rescue mission by Indian Air Force, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, April 29, 2015. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

KATHMANDU — 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.

The button below indicates how much has been raised on Crowdrise's "Nepal Earthquake Relief" page. Click to visit the site and donate.

Contact HuffPost India

Close
This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.