Pokhara, Nepal: Rescuers pulled two men alive from a debris-choked tunnel on Friday. The dramatic rescue happened at the Trishuli-3A hydropower project. It came more than a week after catastrophic floods and landslides hit the Himalayan region.
The survivors are Sanjay Sah, 30, a mechanical foreman, and Kabir Maharjan, 45, a mechanical supervisor. Rescuers extracted them after nearly nine days underground. Nepali Army teams and disaster officials found the men during efforts to reach trapped workers. The site sits along the Trishuli River in Rasuwa district, near China’s Tibet border. Officials flew both men to a hospital in Kathmandu.
Army images showed one mud-covered worker. A rescuer carried him from the site on his shoulder. “When hope is alive, even the impossible becomes possible,” the army posted with the photos. Amir Maharjan, brother of one survivor, told reporters: “I can’t explain what we are feeling at the moment. We are just grateful to God.” The family headed to the hospital to see him.
Rescuers first heard voices inside the tunnel on Friday morning. One survivor told officials that more people remained alive deeper inside. Communication Minister Bikram Timilsina wrote that authorities wait “for the rescue of more and more people.” The army and the National Disaster Risk Reduction & Management Authority confirmed that voices of other workers could still be heard.
At least 557 workers remain missing at the Trishuli-3A site alone. Roughly 115 of them are trapped in the main tunnel, according to the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal. Across about a dozen hydropower projects, roughly 900 workers stay unaccounted for. Many come from China, India, South Korea and other countries. Around 500 of them are trapped in tunnels.
The disaster began around Aug. 26. Experts believe a high-altitude glacier collapse on the Nepal-Tibet border triggered it. Authorities confirm at least 1,287 people dead in Nepal. More than 5,000 remain missing. On the Chinese side, officials report 21 dead and 541 missing after a mudslide hit a major border crossing. The only road to the site in Gyirong county reopened fully this week. Nearly 600 foreign nationals are among the missing overall. The U.S. State Department said 75 Americans remained unaccounted for as of Wednesday. Sixteen had reached safety.
Rescue teams face treacherous conditions. These include unstable terrain and a long tunnel to the underground powerhouse. The tunnel stretches more than four kilometers (about 2.5 miles). Efforts continue around the clock at multiple sites. One Indian army specialist involved earlier noted that the first 48 hours prove most critical for tunnel rescues. After that, survivors can face severe disorientation and other risks. Still, he said, “there have been miracles.”
The two men rescued Friday offer a fragile sign of hope. Search teams press on for the hundreds still missing in the Himalayan valleys.
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