Workers rescued alive from tunnels in Nepal 9 days after the disaster: "We are here to save you"
Rescue teams in Nepal have pulled two workers alive from a hydroelectric power station tunnel nine days after a glacier collapse. They are the first survivors found among hundreds of workers still missing following the disaster.
Rescue teams in Nepal located two workers alive today, Monday, who had been trapped in a hydroelectric power station tunnel for nine days. Nepal's Minister of Communications, Bikram Timilsina, announced the rescue on Facebook, sharing a video of a survivor being pulled from the ground on a stretcher. The workers were evacuated to a hospital in the capital, Kathmandu.
Timilsina expressed hope for further rescues:
"We are waiting for the rescue of more and more people."
According to Nepal's Minister of Energy, the two rescued workers, Sanjay Sah and Kabir Maharjan, are the first to be found alive among the power station projects affected by the glacier collapse. In footage released by authorities, Maharjan is seen being pulled from an opening in the ground to the cheers of onlookers, while Sah was carried to a rescue tent covered in mud. The local electricity agency told the BBC that both men suffer from oxygen deprivation and injuries to their hands and legs, likely sustained while crawling through the tunnel. Estimates suggest 39 workers remain trapped in that specific tunnel, though their survival status is unclear.
Authorities report that 12 power station projects were operating in the disaster zone. Of the 900 workers currently listed as missing, approximately 500 are believed to be trapped in tunnels. The Trishuli 3A station, where the rescue took place, has at least 115 workers considered trapped in its main tunnel out of 557 missing from the project.
Hydroelectric projects have boomed in Nepal since the turn of the century as the mountainous nation seeks to utilize Himalayan water sources to address domestic power shortages and export electricity to India. These projects rely on tunnels to channel water through steep terrain to generate power, and it is feared that many of the missing are currently located within these structures.
According to Nepal's Disaster Management Agency, at least 1,259 people have died in the floods that began on August 26, with over 5,000 people from 30 countries still missing, including two Israelis. One is a man in his 60s who was visiting Hindu holy sites, and the second is Katrina Zakovich, 41, who holds dual Israeli and Belarusian citizenship. Across the border, China reported 21 deaths and 541 missing on the Tibetan side.
