Rescuers in Nepal pulled two workers alive from a flooded hydropower tunnel on Friday, nine days after a wall of water tore through the region. The men were taken out of the main tunnel at the Trishuli 3A hydropower project in Rasuwa district and flown to a hospital in Kathmandu. Officials said both were in stable condition.
A rescue after nine days underground
Video from the site showed the first rescued worker covered in mud as army personnel carried him away on a rescuer's shoulder. Onlookers cheered as he was lifted into daylight. Police chief Bipin Regmi of the nearby flood-hit district of Nuwakot said rescuers heard voices inside the tunnel and that a medical team was sent to the site. The tunnel leads to an underground powerhouse where dozens of people were working when the flood hit, and it runs more than four kilometers (2.5 miles) into the hillside.
Hundreds still missing
The flood struck on August 26 and is believed to have been caused by a glacier collapse. It swept away villages and killed more than 1,200 people in Nepal, with damage also reported on the Chinese side of the border. The Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal said at least 557 workers are missing from the Trishuli 3A project, and about 115 are believed to be trapped in the main tunnel. Workers from China, South Korea and India were among those at the site.
Hope for more survivors
The rescue raised hopes that others may still be found alive, and army-led teams kept digging around the clock. The operation is slow because flood debris packed the tunnel with mud and rock. Each breakthrough has been treated as a small miracle by families waiting at the surface. Officials gave no timeline for reaching the remaining trapped workers but said the search would continue as long as anyone could be saved.