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

Nine days after huge floods in late August, rescuers pulled two men alive from a mud-filled tunnel at the Upper Trishuli 3A hydropower plant in Nepal. The plant is on the Trishuli River. The men worked at the plant: Sanjay Sah, a 30-year-old mechanical foreman, and Kabir Maharjan, a 45-year-old mechanical supervisor.

They were found about 40 metres inside the tunnel and taken to a military hospital in Kathmandu. Sah said he spent the time trapped chanting prayers and later asked, “What day is it?” The rescue brought hope, but many people are still missing after the landslides and floods.