Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The Timure Border Outpost (BOP) of the Armed Police Force (APF) continued to carry out its duties despite losing nine personnel, including its commander and second-in-command, in the catastrophic Bhotekoshi flood on August 26.
Timure, the last settlement before the Nepal-China border at Rasuwagadhi, housed several government offices and hotels.
Thirteen APF personnel went missing in the disaster, including four deployed at the Trishuli Hydropower Project Security Base in Mailung.
Following the loss of the outpost’s commander, Inspector Ambir Khatri and second-in-command, Sub-Inspector Prakash Neupane, Assistant Sub-Inspector Tam Bahadur Thapa Magar, immediately assumed leadership to secure the outpost and ensure the safety of the surviving personnel.
Of those swept away, only the body of APF Constable Sajan Kunwar has been recovered—in Nawalparasi East—while the remaining personnel remain missing, according to APF Joint Spokesperson DSP Shailendra Thapa.
“For nearly 24 hours after the flood, the Timure BOP was the sole government facility left standing near the Nepal–Tibet border,” Thapa said. “Although the team was unable to contact APF headquarters due to power outage and network disruptions, they continued their duties uninterrupted.”
The next day, a reinforcement team led by Inspector Sanju Khatri was dispatched from Dhunche to carry out search and rescue operations in the Timure area. The APF team has recovered 98 bodies from the area and successfully rescued a six-year-old girl alive from under the debris in Timure.
“Rescue workers heard the young girl crying beneath the rubble approximately 60 hours after the flood and immediately dug her out,” DSP Thapa said.
The floods and landslides destroyed more than 41 bridges along major highways, including the Syabrubesi–Rasuwagadhi road section, leaving no government office or private residence intact in the worst-affected areas.
The APF has mobilized over 4,200 personnel for flood search-and-rescue operations. It has established 12 temporary bases in three flood-hit districts: Malekhu and Galchhi in Dhading; Devighat, Colony, Ratmate, Tarakeshwar, Betrawati, and Taruka in Nuwakot; and Trishuli Hydro 3A, Trishuli Hydro 3B, Syafrubesi, and Bogatitar in Rasuwa.
According to APF headquarters, around 800 specially trained personnel have been deployed along the Bhotekoshi-Trishuli corridor, from Timure in Rasuwa down to the Nepal-India border in Nawalparasi West.
“About 500 of them have received formal disaster management training,” Thapa said. “Similarly, specialized units including 70 CSSR (Collapsed Structure Search and Rescue) experts, 70 rope-rescue specialists, 30 divers, 10 high-altitude rescue personnel, 15 body-management handlers, five drone operators, five K-9 handlers, and a 48-member medical team have also been deployed.”
