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Two rescued after 9 days
Rescuers in Nepal pulled two workers alive from the Trishuli 3A hydropower tunnel on Friday, nine days after floods likely caused by a glacier collapse swept away villages and devastated towns in Nepal on Aug. 26.
“Rescuers pulled two survivors from a tunnel linked to a hydropower station on Nepal's Trishuli River on Friday, nine days after”
The two men were identified as a mechanical foreman and a mechanical supervisor, and officials said both were in stable condition and were flown to a hospital in Kathmandu.
Reuters said the August 26 collapse of a glacier on the upper reaches of the Trishuli River trapped at least 900 people in tunnels related to six hydropower projects along the waters.
The rescue followed earlier efforts that included digging through dense mud and debris and boring into tunnels, with officers from the Nepali Army working with technical teams sent by India, China and other countries.
NPR reported that at least 557 workers are missing from the Trishuli 3A hydropower project along the Trishuli River, with about 115 believed to be trapped in the main tunnel.
Voices from the tunnel
Nepalese lawmaker Shri Ram Neupane posted about the second rescue on his Facebook page shortly after army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet confirmed the first trapped worker’s rescue.
In a video recording shared by Nepali authorities, mechanical supervisor Sanjay Sah said, "I was in the control room, so my responsibility was to save everyone's lives," after he urged colleagues to flee when the disaster struck.
CBS News reported that Nepal Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal told its reporter he was "thrilled" about the two rescues and was "hoping to see more survivors."
The Guardian reported that Sanjay Shah, the first rescued, asked, "What day is it?" after being pulled from a depth of 170 metres (558ft) inside the tunnel.
CNN said police chief Bipin Regmi told it that rescuers heard voices, and it quoted emergency workers telling the trapped men, "Don’t panic, we are rescuing you," according to Nepali lawmaker Shri Ram Neupane.
What remains at risk
Despite the rescue, officials and rescue workers believe more people remain trapped inside hydropower tunnels, with NPR saying rescuers believe some people may still be alive inside the tunnel.
“giving search teams a flicker of hope as the possibility of finding other survivors fades”
Reuters said the two workers were the first to be rescued from the hydropower projects and that the possibility of finding other survivors was giving search teams "a flicker of hope" as the chance of more rescues fades.
The scale of the disaster remains vast, with Reuters reporting that the glacier collapse killed more than 1,300 people and left over 5,600 missing, while NPR said at least 1,259 people were killed and more than 5,000 remain missing.
China’s death toll on the Tibet side of the border was reported as 21 killed and 541 missing, and NPR said about 900 workers are missing from 12 hydropower projects in Nepal, with roughly 500 believed to be trapped in tunnels.
Reuters also reported that property, housing and infrastructure worth at least 387.5 billion Nepalese rupees ($2.56 billion) was lost, and it said Nepal will need to rebuild around 20,000 houses in flood-ravaged areas, with at least 7,500 destroyed outright.