Rescue from a Buried Hydropower Tunnel: Two Survivors After Nine Days

Rescuers have pulled two workers alive from a mud-filled chamber at the Upper Trishuli 3A hydropower project, nine days after a sudden flood and mudslide swept the Trishuli valley. The operation was carried out after days of careful digging, draining and clearing, and engineers used maps, satellite images and as-built drawings to find a safer route into the buried tunnel. The two men are named Sanjay Sah, a 30-year-old mechanical foreman, and Kabir Maharjan, 45, a mechanical supervisor.

They were found about 40 to 60 metres inside the tunnel and were taken to a military hospital in Kathmandu for treatment. Sah said he chanted mantras while he was trapped and later asked rescuers, 'What day is it?' At times the teams stopped using explosives and cleared the last metres by hand to avoid endangering anyone deeper inside. Foreign rescue specialists joined Nepali teams to advise on the complex operation. Although the rescue offers hope for some families, more than 1,200 people have been reported killed and thousands remain missing since the August 26 disaster. Rescue teams are continuing to search other tunnels while relatives wait anxiously for news.