Two workers have been rescued alive from a tunnel linked to a hydropower station in Nepal, nine days after a devastating glacier collapse unleashed ice, rock and mud through the Trishuli River valley.
The dramatic rescue on Friday offered a rare moment of hope as search teams continued looking for survivors following the August 26 disaster, which has killed more than 1,300 people and left thousands missing.
Officials and rescue workers believe the collapse trapped at least 900 people inside tunnels connected to six hydropower projects along the Trishuli River.
Kabir Maharjan and Sanjay Sah were pulled from a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station, becoming the first workers rescued from the affected hydropower projects.
The two men were taken to an army hospital in Kathmandu for treatment.
Videos released by Nepali authorities showed Maharjan being hoisted from a hole in the ground as bystanders cheered before he was placed on a stretcher.
Sah, a mechanical foreman, was carried out on a worker’s back with his face still covered in mud. Army doctors then fitted him with an oxygen mask and checked his vital signs inside a rescue tent.
Sah later explained that he had remained in the control room to help others escape after hearing about the disaster.
“I was in the control room, so my responsibility was to save everyone’s lives. When there was such a big accident, it was not right for me to run away,” he said in a video recording shared by Nepali authorities.
Sah told rescuers that he spent part of his time reciting mantras while trapped inside the tunnel.
He also said he had been in contact with three or four other people in the tunnel and believed others could still be alive deeper inside.
Survivors give rescuers fresh hope
Both men were receiving intensive care at an army hospital, with their vital signs reported to be stable, according to a source at the facility.
Maharjan, a mechanical supervisor, was unable to move his hands or legs, while Sah’s injuries were not considered critical, according to an aide to Nepal’s energy minister.
Maharjan’s brother, Amir, said the family had not received official confirmation 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 said.
A small group of people also managed to escape from another tunnel several hours after the disaster struck.
Search teams continued operations around the Upper Trishuli 3A project on Friday, with the Nepali Army saying rescue efforts were being led by the army and police.
Experts from India, South Korea and China were also assisting the operation.
A team of experts using a WhatsApp group has been guiding rescuers searching the hydropower projects, adding another tool to operations involving helicopters and heavy machinery.
Nepal counts huge losses
Nepal’s disaster management authority said on Friday that at least 1,287 people had been killed in floods that swept away homes, roads and schools in towns and villages near the border with China’s Tibet.
More than 5,080 people remained missing.
China reported 21 deaths in Tibet, with another 541 people listed as missing.
The scale of the destruction has also left Nepal facing billions of dollars in losses.
Dharma Raj Upreti, chief of Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, said property, housing and infrastructure worth at least 387.5 billion Nepalese rupees ($2.56 billion) had been lost.
Nepal is expected to rebuild about 20,000 houses in flood-hit areas, with at least 7,500 already destroyed, Upreti said.
Commercial insurance losses could exceed $132.3 million, with hydropower projects expected to account for most of the claims, according to a senior official at one of Nepal’s leading insurers.
At least 583 foreign nationals were also reported missing on Thursday, many of them pilgrims and trekkers.
Australian disaster response specialists arrived in Nepal on Friday to join the search, as the Australian government expressed “serious concerns” about the welfare of its 36 missing citizens.
The rescue of Maharjan and Sah has provided a fresh flicker of hope for families still waiting for news of loved ones, although the chances of finding more survivors are fading as the search enters its second week.
