Two trapped workers rescued from hydropower tunnel nine days after Nepal floods

Rescuers in Nepal pulled two workers alive from a hydropower project tunnel on the Trishuli river during an ongoing operation on Friday, officials said.

Nepalese lawmaker Shri Ram Neupane posted the second rescue on his Facebook page shortly after army spokesperson Brigadier General Raja Ram Basnet confirmed the first trapped worker’s rescue from the tunnel at the Upper Trishuli 3A site.

The workers were rescued nine days after flash floods, likely caused by a glacier collapse, devastated entire towns and valleys along the Nepal-China border.

The rescued workers were Sanjay Sah, a mechanical foreman, and Kabir Maharjan, a mechanical supervisor, energy minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha’s office said in a statement.

Mr Maharjan cannot move his hands and legs but Mr Sah’s injuries are not critical. They are being taken to a hospital in Kathmandu.

Mr Maharjan’s brother said he had not received any news officially but had been told to go to the hospital”.

“I have ⁠been hearing from the news that my brother ‌has been found. ​The entire family is ‌very happy,” Amir Maharjan said.

The 26 August floods killed at least 1,259 people and left more than 5,000 missing, according to Nepal’s national disaster management agency.

China said 21 people were killed and 541 were missing on its side of the border in Tibet.

Rescue efforts are increasingly centred on hydroelectric project tunnels along the Trishuli river where authorities believe that many workers remain alive after being cut off by floodwaters and debris.

Nearly 900 workers are still missing from 12 hydropower projects in the country, with 500 believed to be trapped in tunnels, according to local authorities.

At the Upper Trishuli 3A facility, it took rescue workers almost six days to find the tunnels because of thick ‌mud.

Rescuers said there was a dry chamber inside and expected oxygen to be flowing through the tunnel. They were also using pipes to push oxygen inside.