Volunteers and heavy machinery worked to clear thick mud from a flood-hit school in Nepal's Dhading district on Monday (August 31), as residents dug through the wreckage of classrooms in search of salvageable belongings.

Thick, sludgy mud - in places from ankle-deep to knee-deep - was slowly cleared from classrooms by hand, gathered into piles before excavators moved in to haul it away. Almost a hundred workers took part in the cleanup that began on Friday, in sweltering heat.

"It's really heartbreaking to see all of them muddy because for us it's very difficult to work as well," said a 22-year-old volunteer said about the mud-filled classrooms.

Parents and students also returned to the school in search of belongings that survived the flooding, sifting through mud-covered bags and books.

Principal Gyanu Thapa, 49, said no one at the school was hurt, as students had already been evacuated to higher ground before the flood hit.

"Someone called to tell us that a big, terrifying flood was coming, and the caller told us to quickly take the children somewhere safe," Thapa told Reuters.

However, she said there was no clear timeline for reopening to students, as the school would need to rely on support from local and central government to recover.

The unprecedented deluge of ice, rock, mud and debris carved a trail of destruction in the country's valley towns and villages, as well as across the border in China, on Wednesday, killing more than 900 people, with nearly 5,000 still missing.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

Cleanup continues at school in Dhading District after Nepal floods

VIDEO SHOWS: PEOPLE CLEANING UP SCHOOL HIT BY FLOODS / SCHOOL EQUIPMENT AND CLASSROOMS COVERED IN MUD / SOUNDBITES WITH VOLUNTEER, SCHOOL PRINCIPAL AND MOTHER OF STUDENT / AERIALS OF TOWN AFFECTED BY FLOODING IN DHADING DISTRICT AND TRISHULI RIVER

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: GALCHHI, DHADING DISTRICT, NEPAL (AUGUST 31, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all) (PART MUTE)

1. (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF TOWN AFFECTED BY FLOODING IN DHADING DISTRICT

2. (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF FLOOD-AFFECTED BUILDINGS

3. (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF AFFECTED TOWN

4. (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF AFFECTED SCHOOL AND EXCAVATOR SCOOPING MUD

5. MEN STANDING ON TRUCK / EXCAVATOR SCOOPING MUD INTO TRUCK

6. MAN SCOOPING MUD

7. MEN SWEEPING MUD AWAY USING WOODEN PLANK

8. VARIOUS OF MAN IN ORANGE VEST SWEEPING AWAY MUD

9. VARIOUS OF MEN SCOOPING UP MUD WITH SHOVELS AND ONE USING WOODEN PLANK

10. MEN SCOOPING MUD OUT OF CLASSROOM

11. (SOUNDBITE) (English) 22-YEAR-OLD VOLUNTEER, BIHANI PANGENI, SAYING:

"It's very sad. It's very heartbreaking because this is where students of Nepal, students of this glossary area used to play. This is the exact playground here. We have computer labs where they used to use computers. We have classrooms where they used to learn and they used to sit and study. But then it's really heartbreaking to see all of them muddy because for us, it's very difficult to work as well. As you can see, it's all mud. So we cannot imagine how students will come here again."

12. PARENTS AND STUDENT SEARCHING FOR THEIR SCHOOL BAG AND BELONGINGS

13. WOMAN SEARCHING FOR HER CHILD'S BELONGINGS

14. STUDENT OPENING PENCIL CASE

15. WOMAN SEARCHING

16. VARIOUS OF BOOKS AND BAG COVERED IN MUD

17. BAGS COVERED IN MUD

18. (SOUNDBITE) (Nepali) 29-YEAR-OLD MOTHER OF STUDENT, SABITRA SUNWAR, SAYING:

"I'm not happy at all to see this happen, because this school held the hope and future of the children. Now there's nothing left of the books and school supplies. I feel very sad."

19. PARENTS WALKING ON SECOND FLOOR CORRIDOR OF SCHOOL

20. MEN LOOKING ON AT CLEANUP IN PROGRESS

21. VARIOUS OF STUDENT TAPPING KEYBOARD COVERED IN MUD

22. STUDENT DRINKING WATER WHILE SITTING ON DESK

23. VOLUNTEERS TAKING BREAK AND DRINKING WATER

24. VOLUNTEER DRINKING WATER AND PASSING BOTTLE TO ANOTHER PERSON, WHO WASHES HANDS

25. VOLUNTEER DRINKING WATER

26. VOLUNTEER AND WOMAN SEATED

27. FEET OF MAN AND WOMAN COVERED IN MUD

28. VOLUNTEER WASHING HIS FEET

29. (SOUNDBITE) (Nepali) SCHOOL PRINCIPAL, GYANU THAPA, 49, SAYING:

"Someone called to tell us that a big, terrifying flood was coming, and the caller told us to quickly take the children somewhere safe. After that, we took the children to safety (on the hill)."

30. MAN LOOKING ON

31. CLASSROOM COVERED IN ANKLE-DEEP MUD

32. DESKS COVERED IN MUD

33. COMPUTER MOUSE COVERED IN MUD

34. KEYBOARDS AND CABLING COVERED IN MUD

35. (SOUNDBITE) (Nepali) SCHOOL PRINCIPAL, GYANU THAPA, 49, SAYING:

"This school is government-funded, and everything inside it has been destroyed. We have to rely on others, from the local government up to the central government, to bring the school back to how it was. So we can't say for certain when we'll be back to normal."

36. (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF AFFECTED TOWN WITH TRISHULI RIVER IN DISTANCE

37. (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF TRISHULI RIVER