Rescuers in Nepal yesterday pulled two workers alive from a tunnel at a hydropower plant, raising hopes of reaching dozens of others believed to be trapped nine days after deadly floods swept away villages and submerged the Himalayan region in mud and debris.
Search teams first heard voices from inside the tunnel in the morning, allowing them to locate the two men, Nepalese lawmaker Shri Ram Neupane said.
Images showed a rescuer carrying one of the workers, covered in mud, on his back, while soldiers on either side helped.
Photo: AFP
One of those rescued said more people are alive inside the tunnel, Nepalese army spokesperson Brigadier General Raja Ram Basnet said, and the search is ongoing.
“I can’t explain what we are feeling at the moment. We are just grateful to god,” said Amir Maharjan, the brother of one of those rescued.
Basnet confirmed the first trapped worker’s rescue, and Neupane posted about the second on Facebook shortly after.
Both men were flown to a hospital in Kathmandu, and Maharjan said his family was on its way there. One of the survivors was in critical condition, a statement from the prime minister’s office said.
Officials identified the men as a mechanical foreman and a mechanical supervisor. They were rescued from a tunnel at the Trishuli 3A plant.
About 900 workers are missing from 12 hydropower projects in Nepal, with roughly 500 believed to be trapped in various tunnels, authorities said.
About 115 are believed trapped in the tunnel at Trishuli 3A alone, the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal said.
Nepalese Minister of Information and Communication Bikram Timilsina wrote on Facebook that officials “are waiting for the rescue of more and more people.”
At least 1,287 people were killed in the Aug. 26 floods, likely caused by a glacier collapse, and more than 5,000 people remain missing, Nepal’s disaster management agency said.
Chinese official news agency Xinhua yesterday reported that 31 people were killed and 531 were missing on the Tibet side of the border.
Nepal’s disaster agency yesterday estimated that flooding caused at least 387.5 billion Nepalese rupees (US$2.57 billion) in damage to infrastructure and property.
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