SAVED A BURNING MAN BETTING HIS OWN LIFE.
It was the day, Friday, 2076-07-22, around 3 pm, when Mr. Machhindra Bhandari, an army soldier all the way from Nepal from shri Gorakh Bahadur Gan in Narayanhity Royal Palace, who holds position of LCPL in soldier, took a leave from his duty until the next day and returned back to his house. His actual birthplace is Ghalebhanjhyang, Nuwakot but currently he shifted to Tokha 9, Baniyatar, Kathmandu.
At around 3:30 pm, no sooner had he arrived to his quarter in Baniyatar, he heard a big, loud explosion, like that of a bomb blast. The blast was caused when a wire of grinder machine which was being used for the installation of electricity in a toilet, situated at the top of a newly constructed 3 storey house, accidentally touched the nearby High tension line in the process of shaping the bricks.
It was not only the explosion, but also the flames of fire. Bhandari,rushed to the scene, where he heard the loud noise. From the upper floor of the closed house, 3-5 people were found screaming and running down. Bhandari asked one of those man about the sound and what was happening.
He got to know that a man was burning on the top floor of the house due to current. Without even wasting a single minute, Bhandari climbed the stairs to save the person. Other neighbors and those gathered at the spot denied to go with him because of fear.
They even warned Bandari not to go up because the newly constructed house was wet and he might also get shock. Still, he didn’t gave up courage. The brave soldier entered the house, stating to monitor him as anything can happen. When he reached the first floor, he already got the smell of the burning body.
The courageous rescuer saw a man whose body was enrolled by the electric wires,and due to flames and smoke around his mouth and nose, he was having difficulty in breathing.
The burning man was Devraj Adhikari of Lamjung, who already thought that those were the few moments of his life. But still our courageous soldier, Mr. Bhandari decided not to give up.
After seeing Devraj, he hurriedly poured water on the current wire. On one side the fire was extinguished, but the other part was burning. Due to the shortage of water, he even used sand around him to completely extinguish the fire.
The part of Devraj’s stomach, abdomen and chest were all burned. Flames of smoke were afflicting the injured, which caused difficulty in breathing. “Call an ambulance!” , he shouted from the ceiling. “A man is critically injured! He can be rescued! Inform the ambulance! Help me! Help me! Come up someone!”, he requested . Bhandari quickly realised that no one was willing to come upstairs. After getting no help from anyone, he alone tried to lift Devraj.
After a few minutes, with the help of some people, they were able to take the injured down the road. They quickly removed the wires off his body, picked up a taxi and took the victim to the hospital immediately.
The brave soldier, who almost reached death, succeeded in saving Devraj. Injured Devraj was treated at Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu.
Hospital sources informed that most of his body were operated by a muscular operation of the burned part and was filled from other visible parts.
Young soldiers, like Bhandari who seem to be trying to save the people even by dying, are the ones whom we are proud of.
It is yet to be seen how the Nepali army and the government of Nepal will honor Machindra Bhandari, who gave a second life to Devaraj by betting his own life.
We salute such brave and courageous soldiers.
यो पनि
