‘The house got carried 100 metres away’: some Nepal flood victims had minutes of notice. Others had seconds

Bhagat Lal, 68, has a son studying in Brisbane. Other relatives are missing, while their house was found washed up on the river. The first thing is the noise – chopper blades cutting through the air as helicopters come and go from the main army response centre, at the entrance to Nepal’s flood zone. Then, there is the smell. A putrid, iodine smell. Blood and bone. The severe heat beating down on b