Two Workers Rescued Alive From Nepal Tunnels After 9 Days

Rescue teams in Nepal have located two workers alive who were trapped for nine days inside a tunnel at a hydroelectric power station following a major disaster. Nepal's Minister of Communications, Bikram Timilsina, announced the rescue on Facebook, sharing a video of one of the men being pulled from the ground on a stretcher. Both workers were transported to a hospital in the capital, Kathmandu. Timilsina expressed hope that more survivors would be found, stating, "We are waiting for the rescue of more and more people."

According to Nepal's Minister of Energy, the rescued workers, Sanjay Saha and Kabir Mahajan, are the first to be found alive among those affected by the glacial lake outburst flood. Images released by Nepalese authorities show Mahajan being extracted from an opening in the ground to cheers from onlookers, before being placed on a stretcher. Saha was rescued covered in mud and carried on another worker's back to a rescue tent.

The local electricity agency informed the BBC that the two workers are suffering from oxygen deprivation and injuries to their hands and legs, likely sustained while crawling through the tunnel. The agency estimates that 39 more workers are still trapped in the tunnel, but their condition is unknown. Authorities report that 12 power station projects were operating in the affected area, with an estimated 500 of the 900 reported missing workers believed to be trapped in tunnels.

The Trishuli 3A power station, where the workers were rescued, is located along a river. Approximately 115 workers from this project, out of at least 557 missing, are thought to be trapped in the main tunnel. Hydroelectric projects have seen significant growth in Nepal since the turn of the century, as the country sought to leverage its Himalayan water resources to address domestic electricity shortages and export power to India. These projects often require extensive tunneling through steep terrain.

Nepal's Department of Hydrology and Meteorology reported that at least 1,259 people have died in the floods that struck the country on August 26, with over 5,000 individuals from 30 countries still missing, including two Israelis. One missing Israeli is a man in his 60s who was part of a pilgrimage group, and the other is Katerina Zakovic, 41, an Israeli-Belarusian citizen. On the Tibetan side of the border, China reported 21 deaths and 541 missing individuals.